


Fallen Down

by GlowingArrowsInTheSky



Series: But the Earth Refused to Die [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grouptale, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No Incest, Parent Death, Sibling Bonding, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2018-10-20 04:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 36,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10654962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlowingArrowsInTheSky/pseuds/GlowingArrowsInTheSky
Summary: How the other human children fell down. Sort of a prequel to my original grouptale fic, but you don't have to have read that to understand this fic. Although, I do recommend reading that if you enjoy this one!





	1. Patience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cyan soul - Robin!

The cramped space of their parents’ car trunk was so pitch black, eight-year-old Robin Perch could barely tell the difference between having their eyes open and having them closed. Their wrists and ankles were bound painfully together by layers of duct tape, and another strip of tape was muffling the child’s panicked cries as they felt the car’s wheels bump along the passing road.

Robin had always known they were unwanted by their parents, the ugly black bruise over their left eye a cruel reminder of that; but they still couldn’t fight the sense of betrayal and despair that their parents would do this to them. It had come with no precedent. One second, Robin had been sitting quietly in their room in an attempt to go unnoticed; and the next they were being grabbed by their mother and father, taped up, and thrown in the trunk of their car like a sack of groceries.

A large bump in the road caused the hilt of Robin’s toy knife to jab painfully into their ribcage. The plastic blade was still tucked in the waist of Robin’s blue plaid skirt from when they’d been playing with it earlier; now, Robin cautiously moved it with their tied hands so the handle wouldn’t jut into their abdomen again.

Just as they’d begun to settle their breathing back to a normal pace, the car screeched to a halt. Robin felt their pulse quicken as they heard two car doors slam open and shut, followed by the hammering of two sets of footsteps quickly approaching the back of the car. Pressing as far back into the trunk as they could manage, Robin winced as the hood flew open and two sets of hands reached out and yanked them out of the trunk.

Robin was quiet at first, locked up with fear as their parents carried them away from the car. They could feel their father’s burly arms locked around their chest, crushing their lungs; and if they dared to raise their gaze, they could see their mother wrapping her thin arms around their legs like a vice. The darkness that surrounded and the cold sting of the air told Robin it was nighttime, and the rushes of long grass they could see with their downcast gaze told them they were in some sort of low valley. Peeking to the opposite side, Robin felt their heart drop.

The sight of rushing water occurred to Robin before the sound of it did. Under the night sky, the raging river looked black and bottomless; oozing like a sentient abyss. The only reason Robin even recognized the body of water was because so many people used it as a channel to dump their garbage into. Since the current disappeared into a gaping cavern at the base of the infamous Mount Ebott, it was the perfect place to toss something you wanted out of sight and out of mind.

Giving a small whine against the tape over their mouth, Robin began to struggle against their parents’ hold. They’d barely stirred a limb, before their mother’s hand came away from around their legs and went smacking across Robin’s face. Robin immediately froze, squeezing their eyes shut and not even daring to breathe too loudly for fear of being hit again.

“Keep quiet,” they heard their mother’s voice hiss out venomously. “We’ve dealt with you for far longer than we wanted; the least you can do is hold still like a good child for once.”

Robin bit the inside of their cheek, not daring to open their eyes again even as the sound of rushing water grew cacophonous against their eardrums. The smell of mucky riverbanks and wafting fumes of waterlogged rubbish assailed Robin’s nostrils, making their head throb with a sickening headache. By the time their parents stopped moving, they were close enough to the river that they could feel a few stray droplets of water leap up and splash against their freckled face.

They barely had time to dread the inevitable shift in their parents’ hold that would toss them into the unforgiving river, before the concept of that dread became a tangible reality. Both their parents’ hands and the cold night air whipped away from them; their bobbed orange hair swirled up into their face, transforming into a titian hurricane that burned into Robin’s retinas even behind closed eyelids.

And then, all at once, the impacting crack of the freezing river broke over Robin’s body like a bottle of champagne used to christen a new ship. As soon as they got over the initial shock of being dropped into the water, Robin set to work struggling to get free of the duct tape that held their wrists and ankles together. Luckily, the water seemed to dog down the effectiveness of the duct tape’s adhesive siding and Robin was able to struggle their way out of the bonds on their wrists with relative ease. Once that was done, they waved their arms wildly to breach the upper half of their body above the surface of the water and take a sharp breath in through their nostrils.

Ripping the loosened tape from their mouth, Robin for the first time was able to take stock of their predicament. The current moved too fast for them to even hope to swim against it in clothes already heavy with water and their ankles still tied together. At that thought, Robin worked their ankles against the duct taped holding them together; managing to free themself at last, if only at the small expense of losing one of their shiny black shoes and frilly white socks.

Looking behind them, Robin saw the mouth of the waterfall’s cavern quickly approaching in the distance and panicked for what to do. A sudden churn of the water tucked them under the tide, and they lost what little control they had had over their body as the undercurrent swept them down towards the sloping bank. Their body banged down roughly against something solid, and their head made a sickening cracking noise as it struck against what felt like a jagged rock. Cold, filthy water burned where they’d been struck, and Robin took that as a sign that they were bleeding. They didn’t end up giving this fact too much concern; as the edges of their consciousness were rapidly growing fuzzier and soon gave way to a burgeoning blackness, highlighted only by the dulling burn of water scorching their lungs.

* * *

Consciousness slowly seeped back into Robin’s bones like a towel soaking up warm water from a sink faucet. The first thing they became conscious of was a splitting pain in the side of their head; the second was the pungent aroma of wet garbage all around them. Too worn out still to even open their eyes, Robin gave a soft groan and pressed their downturned face to the damp piece of driftwood their body lay across.

Something in that intake of breath had triggered a reaction in Robin’s lungs however; and in an instant, they were hunched over on their plank of wood, coughing what felt like gallons of dirty garbage water up and spewing it back into the pools surrounding them. When they were all coughed out, Robin collapsed on their side against the driftwood once more and raised a trembling hand to the side of their head. Blinking at their palm as they brought it up to their eyes for examination, Robin found the pale skin of their hand had come away bloody. Groaning again, Robin flopped tiredly against the broken plank of wood and let their hand drop into the cold water that lay just beyond their makeshift raft.

A slithering around their fingers sent them jolting upright again, terror and panic seizing their chest at the prospect of some unknown creature sneaking up to attack them under the cover of the murky black waters surrounding them. But when they drew their hand back to their chest, Robin saw no sign of injury or even indication that another living thing had touched them. Instead, they saw only a familiar shining streak of red fabric sticking to their wet skin as if it were a line of paint. They let out an anxious laugh, it was only their hair ribbon.

Deciding it was best to not touch their head while it was split open, Robin shoved the ribbon into the pocket of their skirt. Feeling the waistband of the plaid patterned garment, Robin found and patted the plastic hilt of their toy knife. Feeling a little more confident now that those two items were definitely with them, Robin slowly lowered themself off their plank and into the water.

Keeping a hold of their piece of driftwood until their feet - one bare, one still shoed - touched to the bottom of the pool. Even though the water ended up not being very deep, just about to Robin’s waist, they kept a holding of their driftwood while they continued forward.

Heaps of garbage surrounded them; some rotting and worn to indecipherable piles of congealed beige gunge, and some still new, spilling out of their shining black garbage bags like entrails from a mortal wound. Robin felt their eyes prick, pressing a hand to their face where it still stung from ripping duct tape off of it. So, this is where their parents thought they belonged. Blinking rapidly and taking a deep breath, Robin forced themself not to cry just yet and continued through the garbage dump.

Eventually, after passing a few more mounds of trash and a creepy-looking dummy they went the long way around to avoid, Robin came at last to a section of raised ground. Letting go of their driftwood, they dragged themself up onto the - well, not dry - significantly less wet terrain. Walking through the little pass in the wall, Robin came to a quiet area.

As relaxing as the quiet was after the turmoil of being thrown down a waterfall, it wasn’t what Robin needed right then. What they needed was to find someone who could help them get back up the waterfall, or at least help them patch up their injuries. Following the path up and to the left a little bit, Robin came to another clearing. This time, there was a house waiting at the end of the path for them.

Or, Robin assumed it was a house. It was shaped more like a giant fish’s head more than any house they’d ever seen, but the eye-shaped windows were emitting a warm glow and endearing piano notes were floating from the mouth-shaped door. Taking a deep breath, Robin took their ribbon from their pocket and wound it through their hair against their better judgment. Better to look cute as possible when facing strangers than let a bloody gash to their temple be the first impression they left. Walking up to the door, Robin reached out and knocked a few times on the gleaming white fangs that served as the blockade to entry before stepping back and waiting for someone to answer the door.

The piano music stopped the second there came a knock; and, from within, Robin could hear heavy, clomping footsteps approaching the door. Drawing back even further, Robin watched as the enormous teeth retracted into the doorframe and the owner of the house stepped into the dim light of the cavern.

Robin stifled a scream at the sight of the person who’d answered the door. Her face matched the design of her house almost flawlessly, and Robin had never met a person who looked so very much like a fish in their life. Blue scales rippled up her muscled arms as she leaned against the doorway, and when her lips pulled back to flash a big smile at Robin she bared a set of imposingly sharp fangs down at the soaked child.

“What can I do for ya, kid?” she asked, running a hand over the bright red fin that served as her hair.

Ironically, Robin was the one who started gaping like a fish out of water. Of course they’d heard about the monsters trapped in the underground; but it hadn’t occurred to them that they’d landed right in the middle of their mountain prison. It was their gut reaction to turn and run right then. Monsters were called ‘monsters’ for a reason, right? They’d been locked away because they were dangerous, right?

But Robin shook their head at themself. They knew better than to judge someone based on the implication of their title, one of the only things they’d learned from their parents. This monster seemed friendly and like she genuinely wanted to help, and Robin desperately needed someone like that just then.

“Uhh,” the fish monster spoke, furrowing one brow down at Robin as she watched the child fidget. “You alright, kid?”

“Y-Yes, I’m…” Robin faltered biting their finger as they looked down to their one bare foot. “Well, no, I’m not alright. I’m lost and I don’t know where I am, could you help me?”

The fish monster let out a long breath and shook her head down at Robin. “Jeez, kid,” she laughed. “Getting lost in the underground must’ve been rough going.”

“Huh?” Robin furrowed their brow, a dull panic blooming in the pit of their stomach.

“Well, it’s not exactly the world above, is it? Not too many places to get lost in, y’know,” she laughed again, then stopped when she saw Robin’s bewildered expression. “Ah, not that, uh - Not that you’d know what the world above is like and all that, uh...me either,” she cleared her throat awkwardly and stepped aside to beckon Robin into her house. “Look, why don’t you just come in and I’ll help you out as much as I can, okay?”

Robin nodded, stepping apprehensively over the threshold of the fish monster’s home and walking into the middle of the main room.

“You wanna sit down?” she gestured to a small table at one side of the room. “I’ll fix us some tea and then you can tell me exactly what the hel- ah, uh -what the _heck_ happened to you.”

Robin looked sheepishly down at the puddle gathering at their feet. “I don’t want to get all of your furniture wet.”

“Whoa, check out the manners on this kid!” the fish monster crouched over and slapped an arm around Robin’s shoulders, pulling them tightly to her side and laughing as she led them to the table. “You’re not from Waterfall are you?”

“Ah...no…” Robin said as they were lifted and set at one of the places at the table.

“Figured not,” she continued, bustling away to fill up the tea kettle and put it on the stovetop. “Well, you’re probably not from Snowdin dressed like that...So, Hotland then?”

“Well, I-”

“Anyway,” she waved a dismissive hand and turned to the now-boiling water, and Robin had to marvel at how fast the kettle had boiled. “Down here in Waterfall, everything is damp to some degree at all times. It’s just they way we live,” she said as she bustled with a couple of mismatched tea mugs. “And, for an aquatic monster like yours truly, it’s just the way I like it.”  

Robin smiled as the monster handed them their mug of tea. “Um, what’s your name, please?”

“Huh?” the monster raised her eyebrows at Robin. “You don’t know?”

Robin glanced to the side and felt their ears burn. “...No.”

“Hmm,” she pursed her lips. “Well, I guess the news hasn’t traveled to some of the smaller living areas yet,” she shrugged, sitting down across from Robin and giving them another huge smile. “I’m Undyne, Head of the Royal Guard.”

“Oh!” Robin lit up. “Then, you can definitely help me!”

“You bet I can!” Undyne’s grin widened. “I only recently got assigned the position, but I’ve been training for years for this. Just tell me where your parents live and I’ll get you home.”

“Oh, well, I…” Robin wilted, cupping their hands nervously around the hot mug in front of them. “I’m not sure if that’s where I should go.”

“Huh?” Undyne furrowed her brow. “How do you mean?”

“I don’t think my parents...want me anymore…”

“You don’t think they _want_ you?” Undyne’s frown deepened.

“Well, I-I didn’t really get lost myself…” Robin said, taking a tentative sip of their tea. It burned their tongue, but other than that tasted pretty good. “My parents sort of lost me...on purpose…?”

Undyne nodded slowly, sitting back and taking in the sight of the injured child before them. “Are they the ones who did that to your eye?” she tapped under her own eye to gesture to Robin’s bruise.

“Yes,” Robin murmured, prodding the bruise gently with two of their own fingers.

Undyne drew her shoulders up, a determined set to her jaw as she leaned forward and took one of Robin’s small hands in both of her strong, scaly ones. “Who are they? Where do they live?”

Robin shook their head, leaning forward themself. “No, you don’t understand-”

“You don’t have to protect them,” Undyne said. “I promise they’re not gonna hurt you anymore. Just tell me where they are and I’ll go arrest them.”

“I don’t think you can…” Robin murmured, throwing a glance to the door.

“I can take down _anyone_ ,” Undyne assured them.

“No, I-I believe you,” Robin said. “It’s just that. My parents are kind of out of your reach.”

Undyne blinked, then shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“They’re at the top of the waterfall,” Robin said, pointing upwards with their free hand. “They threw me down.”

“Wait a minute,” Undyne held a finger up to match Robin’s. “You came from the surface?”

Robin nodded.

Undyne made an incredulous noise, like a person gasping for breath in between a sob. “You’re a human?” she asked in a low, disbelieving voice.

Robin nodded again, their heartbeat beginning to go like a jackhammer as Undyne’s single yellow eye bore into their face.

“Your human parents threw you down here?” Undyne asked, her grip tightening around Robin’s wrist. The child shifted uncomfortably as Undyne’s talons dug into the soft flesh of their arm.

“That’s right,” Robin nodded, trying to pull away.

“Don’t they _know_ what happens to humans down here?” Undyne’s voice a low growl now, all friendliness gone from her face. “Didn’t they _tell_ you?”

“No?” Robin whimpered, rightly terrified now. “Is there something I _should_ know?”

Undyne moved one hand away from Robin’s arm, the other gripping that much tighter in its absence. Grasping at thin air, a glowing blue spear conjured in Undyne’s hand.

“This is so messed up,” Undyne shook her head. “But I guess there’s no way you humans could know of our laws down here. You all made sure of that when you sealed the barrier.”

“What laws?” Robin asked, their breath coming out in frightened gasps.

“We need seven human souls to shatter the barrier,” Undyne said, her voice dropping to a flat tone. “Every human who falls down here must die.”

Robin drew back with a gasp. They tried to stand and run away, but didn’t make it very far with Undyne’s grip still tight around their arm. The Head of the Royal Guard yanked the human forward so their ribs crushed against the edge of the table and their eyes were level with the black tank top she was wearing. Robin’s mug had gotten knocked over in the process, and hot tea was now burning through their skirt and scorching their leg. Tears of pain and fear rushed down their cheeks as Robin squeezed their eyes shut in the vain hope that everything would be less scary if they couldn’t see it.

“I feel bad for ya, kid, I really do,” Undyne’s voice came rumbling from overhead. “In a just world, your scumbag parents would have fallen down here instead of you. But, by virtue of the barrier existing in the first place, this world is anything but fair.”

“P-Please,” Robin choked on a sob, attempting to tug their arm free again. “Let me go.”

“I can’t do that,” Undyne said. But, as she stood in silence, Undyne seemed to think of something. Yanking Robin away from the table, Undyne began to pull the petrified child towards the door.

“Wh-Where are you taking me?” Robin asked, grappling for purchase on anything that might slow Undyne down.

“I won’t kill you in my home,” Undyne said. “It’s just bad manners to kill your houseguest.”

Before Robin could think of anything to say, they were being whirled out of the house and thrown to the ground outside Undyne’s home. When Undyne’s talons finally left their arm, Robin felt blood gush up immediately in their place. Robin scrambled on the ground, trying to push themself up onto their feet.

A crushing pressure to their back stopped them from rising even more than a centimeter; the heel of Undyne’s boot ground into their spine, pinning them to the spot where they’d fallen. A blunt jabbing to their rib cage reminded Robin of the knife in their waistband, and they fiddled with their arm to reach for the hilt while Undyne loomed over them.

“Stop squirming so much! You’re only gonna make it hurt worse,” Undyne snarled, and Robin gave pause at the sound of her voice. There was anger in Undyne’s tone, but something else as well. Undyne sounded almost...apologetic. Robin slowed their motions and threw a glance over their shoulder up at Undyne’s face.

“Now, just…” Undyne took a deep breath as she conjured her spear again. “Just hold still and it’ll be over in a minute, okay?”

“Okay,” Robin nodded breathlessly, tears still pouring down their face and gunking up their breathing.

“What? Really!?” Undyne furrowed her brow as she brandished her spear.

Robin nodded again, keeping eye contact with Undyne as they wormed their hand into the band of their skirt.

“Please, just,” Robin took a deep breath. “Just make it fast.”

The corner of Undyne’s mouth twitched. “You’re surrendering so easily?”

“Yeah,” Robin said in a broken sob, waiting for the right moment to strike as their fingers wrapped around the hilt of their toy knife.

“I don’t know whether to call it bravery or cowardice,” Undyne shook her head as she rose her spear. “But nevertheless, I promise I’ll give you a swift and painless dea-”

Undyne broke off with a cry of surprise as the plastic blade of Robin’s toy knife hit her shin. It didn’t cause any damage, but the shock of being hit so suddenly made the pressure of Undyne’s step lessen. Robin took the opportunity to flop onto their back and grab Undyne’s ankle, shoving against her boot until the Head of the Royal Guard began to swagger off her balance.

While Undyne was momentarily distracted, Robin wormed their way out from under her step. They turned to run out of the area, and almost made it out of Undyne’s eyeshot; but not before the warrior had thrown her spear and lanced the human child’s shoulder.

“GET BACK HERE, YOU DAMN TRICKSTER!!”

Blood spilled hotly down the front of Robin’s soggy white shirt, but the child kept running until they were back out in the quiet area they’d originally come to. Looking every which way, Robin tried to choose which direction was best to go in. As Undyne’s shouts grew in the distance however, Robin decided any direction was better than standing still and chose the nearest path to them.

They came to another clearing with two little wilted houses. Rushing forward, Robin tried the door of the house on the left and found the door was open. Without any further pretense, Robin rushed inside and came to a decrepit little room swathed in cobwebs.

Under different circumstance, Robin might have been frightened to have come upon an actual ghost before their very eyes. But since they were already being chased by a fish monster with a magical glowing spear, Robin found their ability to suspend disbelief incredibly heightened and rushed up to the little ghost with no hesitation.

“Please, I’m so sorry to intrude but the fish- the, ah- Undyne is chasing me. She want’s to kill me and I know humans are supposed to die down here but do you think you could please help me!?” Robin said all in a rush, their head pounding from a sudden lack of air.

“...ohhhh…...you’re scared of my neighbor….” the ghost said. “...that’s ok……….i’m intimidated by her too….do you want me to take you somewhere quiet i know….no one will bother you there…….”

“Yes, yes, that’s perfect,” Robin said in a rush, bracing one shaking hand against the wall. “Please, take me there.”

“...oh…...ok……” the ghost said. “...just follow me then….”

The ghost began to float away, but as soon as Robin turned to follow, the room began to swirl around them. Suddenly, everything began to catch up with them. The gash on their back, the pounding in their head, the exhaustion of their fall all began to form an amalgamation in their little body; and Robin found it was all they could do to even keep their eyes open any longer. They felt their hand slip from the wall and then felt their injuries jarr as they collided with the rickety floorboards.

As they lay still against the floor, Robin saw the ghost’s nondescript face hover into their line of sight.

“I don’t think I can make it,” Robin panted, feeling dizzy from how much blood they’d lost from the wound in their shoulder.

“...oh no…….” the ghost whined, turned their head towards the stomping that was sounding just outside their window. Turning back to Robin’s slumped form, the ghost hovered a little closer. “....i could carry you there myself…if you let me take you….”

“Yeah,” Robin nodded, eyes drooping shut. “Yeah, that’d be fine. Wh-What’s your name?”

“....oh…….” the ghost hovered a little closer. “...i’m napstablook…..or just blook….if you want...”

“Napstablook,” Robin repeated, letting their eyes fall shut at last. “I’m Robin.”

* * *

The next thing Robin was conscious of was their hand hitting against a heavy door. Their eyes blinked open and saw they were slumped in a pile of snow, their forehead pressed against the cold metal of a doorframe.

“Blook?” Robin called, their voice cracking. “Are you...still here?”

“...yes...i am here….” Napstablook’s voice hovered near Robin’s ear. “...this is as far as i can take you...your body can’t pass through the door….i’m sorry…”

“Th-That’s fine,” Robin squeezed their eyes shut, the cold already numbing their still wet skin. “What did you do, Blook? How did you get me here?”

“...i kind of...took over your body….” Napstablook said. “...i don’t like to do it……..but it was the only way to move you….sorry if it made you uncomfortable…..i won’t do it again…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Robin shivered. “Where are we?”

“.............” Napstablook hesitated, not exactly answering Robin’s question once they did speak. “.....you’re somewhere safe….she’ll take care of you here….keep knocking…………..bye, robin…..”

“Blook, wait,” Robin called, but knew they were too late. Their ghost friend had vanished, and they were all alone in the freezing snow. At a loss for what else to do, Robin kept knocking weakly at the door as Blook had told them to do. But as they grew colder and colder out there in the snow, their knocks grew weaker and weaker until their hand finally slumped down to their side. Groaning, Robin began banging their head against the door instead until their brain felt as if it were going to explode from their cranium.

Finally, they were too frozen and tired to carry on. Collapsing on their side, Robin let the warm release of sleep surge through their veins. The last thing they heard was the sound of a door creaking open, and a low gentle voice speaking to them through the whistling arctic winds.

* * *

 Robin was warm when they woke up, that was what mattered the most to them. Nothing too terrible could be happening if they woke up somewhere warm and dry that smelled like cinnamon. Their eyes were still closed, but they stirred a little and felt the comforting pressure of a heap of blankets wrapped around them. Their muscles still ached, and they gave a soft groan as they stretched their limbs out to test for brokenness.

“There, there, my child. It is alright,” a soft voice spoke out, and then there was a pair of gentle hands smoothing Robin’s hair back and pulling the blankets tighter around them. “You are safe now.”

At the sound of the stranger’s voice, Robin forced their eyes open at last and looked to see who was speaking to them. She was another monster, this time a goat-looking one with horns and fangs and white fur all over. Robin shot up with a start, pressing themself back against the nearest wall.

“Do not be afraid, little one,” the monster said, spreading her hands out to show she meant no harm. “I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I promise I will not hurt you.”

“But I,” Robin’s voice cracked, their throat dry as paper. “I’m a human. And the law says...Don’t you have to kill me?”

Toriel’s face turned sour for a moment before shaking her head. “I do not harm children, human or monster. You need not worry about me attempting to harm you.”

“Then you…” Robin relaxed a little bit. “What are you going to do?”

“If you will allow me,” Toriel said, lowering her hands to the mattress. “I would like to take care of you.”

“You mean you...” Robin looked around the room for the first time, and found it was furnished to be a child’s room. “...you want me to stay here?”

“Yes,” Toriel nodded. “No one ever comes here since only I can open the door to the Ruins from inside. I can protect you from the monsters that would harm you.”

Robin reached up to their shoulder where they remembered getting hit by Undyne’s spear, but found nothing there but the faintest of scars. “How long have I been asleep?” they marveled.

“A few hours,” Toriel smiled kindly, daring to reach out and gently lay Robin back down. Robin didn’t protest, letting the monster tuck the covers securely around them. “I used my healing magic to the extent that I could. It works best on injuries born of magic attacks, but your other injuries may take some more time to heal.”

“Oh,” Robin nodded, reaching up and feeling their face. The pain of their blackeye was still there, and now a bandage wound tightly around their forehead was there as well. Settling their hand against the covers, they sighed and looked around the warmly lit room.

“Tell me, my child,” Toriel spoke, gently taking one of Robin’s hands in hers. “How did you come to fall down here?”

Robin closed their eyes, biting their lip against the tears that threatened to rush forward.

“Oh dear,” Toriel murmured. “I did not mean to upset you. Would you rather not say?”

Robin shook their head, opening their eyes and looking to the ceiling. “They threw me down the waterfall.”

Toriel’s grip tightened ever so slightly on Robin’s small hand. When she spoke again, her voice was taut with anger. “Who threw you down the waterfall?”

“My parents,” Robin whimpered, reaching up to wipe the tears that were now falling freely down their face. “They didn’t want me anymore. They threw me out with the trash.”

“That is despicable,” Toriel said immediately. “To even imagine doing something like that to someone is unspeakable.”

Robin nodded, not knowing what else to do. All of the heartbreak they’d been wrestling down came bubbling to the surface, and found they couldn’t stop crying. Their head still hurt and they cuts on their arm from Undyne’s claws were still there bandaged up on their arm; fear and panic constricted their chest, making it difficult to breathe. They moved to apologize to Toriel for throwing a tantrum; but before they could speak, felt the monster’s arms go gently around them and hold them to her chest.

“Shh,” Toriel said, stroking Robin’s hair gently as she let the child cry into the front of her robe. “It is alright, little one. It is alright. I promise you will be safe here. I will not let anyone hurt you again.”

Robin sobbed into Toriel’s chest for what felt like hours. When they finally calmed down enough to breathe somewhat normally again, Toriel lowered them back against the pillows and tucked them in again.

Robin reached up to wipe the tears from their face with the sleeve of their shirt. As they did so, a dull memory reminded them that the shirt they’d fallen down in hadn’t had long sleeves. For the first time, they noticed that the clothes they were wearing were not their own. The shirt they had on was striped in a pattern of aquas and turquoises, and they could feel without looking under the blankets that they had on a pair of comfortable pants instead of their skirt. Patting their head with a sudden urgency, Robin felt nothing but hair run through their fingers and looked to Toriel in a panic.

“Did you find my ribbon with me?” they asked, heart thumping with concern for the little scrap of fabric.

“Hm?” Toriel jolted a little, then settled into an easy smile. “Ah, yes, it’s on the table with the lamp. Your toy knife is there as well. You can retrieve them when you feel a little better.”

“Okay,” Robin nodded, letting a heavy yawn course through them.

Toriel laughed, pulling the blankets closer around Robin. “Go back to sleep, my child,” she said, planting a kiss to the top of Robin’s head as she moved to turn the lights out. “Everything will be alright now.”

“Thank you, Toriel,” Robin murmured sleepily, closing their eyes and letting their mind drift off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Robin held fast to Toriel’s hand, bouncing excitedly to finally be out of bed and seeing the rest of the Ruins. Everything was tinged purple and they rather liked it, following closely behind Toriel and taking in the sights around them with with both wonder and a sense of comfort. This seemed like a place they could call “Home” and smiled to themself that they seemed to have finally found a safe place. After the horror of their parents’ house and the perils of the rest of the underground, Robin was in no rush to leave the safety of Toriel’s side and followed her dutifully wherever she went.

After a few more strides of walking, Toriel paused and knelt down to speak with Robin. “Now, my child, if you wish to take a look around the surrounding areas while I do my rounds, you may.”

“Alright,” Robin nodded, clasping their hands excitedly in front of them.

“But be sure not to wander too far,” Toriel said. “And do you have the cell phone I gave to you?”

“Uh-huh,” Robin nodded, holding up the phone for Toriel to see before replacing it in their pocket.

“Call me if you have any trouble at all,” Toriel said, reaching out and hugging Robin before pulling back. “And do not wander too far.”

Robin laughed. “You said that already, Mom-” they froze, clapping a hand over their mouth as a burning blush crawled up their face. It had slipped out accidentally, and now embarrassment consumed Robin’s every thought as they waited for Toriel’s reaction.

Toriel blinked in shock for a moment, blushing a bit herself before turning a gentle smile to Robin. “Be sure to be careful, darling,” she said, leaning forward to kiss Robin on the forehead; straightening their hair ribbon as she pulled back.

Robin nodded silently, quickly turning on their heel and stalking away. They were so determined to get away that, as they entered the next room, Robin completely failed to noticed the patched trap door underneath their feet. The ground fell away beneath them, and they landed with a gentle thud against a different floor.

Looking around, they found themself in a small room, hardly bigger than a closet. Standing up, they brushed their skirt off and checked their pocket to see if their knife was still in place. Satisfied with the state of themself, Robin turned to go back up the air vent on the wall as Toriel had instructed them.

“Oh!” they startled as they turned around. There on the ground, Napstablook was lying looking at the ceiling. “Hi, Blook! It’s nice to see you again.”

Napstablook turned to look at Robin. “.......oh hi….it’s good to see you too….” they paused, looking away suddenly. “....sorry about possessing you before…..”

“No, it’s okay,” Robin shook their head. “You saved me. Thank you, Blook.”

“......ohhh…..” Napstablook said before vanishing again, as was their way.

Going back up the vent, Robin continued to wander around with a bit more care for where they were stepping. They’d barely made it a few more steps, when a sharp voice sounded behind them.

“Howdy there!”

Robin spun around, looking for the source of the voice and finding no one in immediate sight.

“Down here,” the voice giggled.

Robin looked down to their feet and saw a little golden flower beaming up at them. Literally. The flower had a face and was smiling up at Robin. 

“Oh, hello!” Robin waved. “Who are you?”

“I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!” he said.

“I’m Robin,” they smiled back. “Nice to meet you.”

“Say, you’re new to the underground, aren’t you?” Flowey smiled. “Golly, you must be so confused!”

“Actually, Toriel’s been explaining a lot to me and-”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Flowey cut Robin off. “Anyways, I bet you could use someone to show you how things really work down here, huh?”

“Um, I think I’m good,” Robin said, backing away slowly.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Flowey said. “I’m trying to have a conversation and you’re just leaving? Were you raised in a barn?”

“I just,” Robin held their hands up, still backing away. “I don’t think I should-”

“Quit trying to run!” Flowey snarled, raising one of his roots behind Robin’s ankles and sending them toppling hard onto their back. Popping up closer to the human child, Flowey sneered down at them and summoned a score of bullets around them. “Who would pass up an opportunity like this? Get ready to-”

A bright burst of flame interrupted Flowey’s sentence, knocking him away like he were a fly on the wall. Robin looked up and saw Toriel marching towards them; she reached out and lifted Robin off the ground, setting them on their feet and brushing them off carefully.

“Are you alright, my child?” she asked. “Did that horrid little creature harm you?”

“No, I-” Robin took a deep breath. “I’m fine. But I, uh, I think I’ll stick with you from now on if that’s okay.”

Toriel smiled, giving a single nod. “More than okay,” she said, offering her hand to Robin and leading the child away from the room. “Come along then, I will show you my favorite snail hunting spots.”

Robin smiled, nodding along as they kept at Toriel’s side. But as they left the room behind, they paused and threw a glance back to where Flowey had been a moment before. It would seem nowhere they went would be completely safe from the harsh reality that the world was neither fair nor kind; but for the time being, they were safe. Their hand was in the hand of a kind monster, and perhaps of the kindest person they’d encountered in their life. Walking forward into the Ruins, Robin felt that they had found a place to call home indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's reading this, I hope you're enjoying!! I don't have a regular updating schedule planned for this fic. I'm just writing as inspiration strikes, so I'm sorry if there are any long breaks in between chapters.


	2. Bravery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The orange soul - Alex!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not dead yet.

It had been three days since Alex Ortiz had lobbed off their mess of long brown hair in the train station restroom. They’d done it with a pair of safety scissors, choppy and sticking out in every which way so that when they tied it back with their bandana they looked more deranged porcupine than human. When all of their hair had been cut off, they’d gathered the remains and flushed them down the toilet; not wanting to risk leaving behind any clue that they were ever there. Alex was running away, and they did not want to be found. 

Sneaking onto trains was decidedly easy for a nine-year-old, as it turned out; most conductors fell for the babe in the woods routine when Alex informed them they were going to meet their mom on board. Those that didn’t fall for it weren’t a big concern, there was always another train pulling into the station a few minutes later.

Alex’s eyes scanned the tattered map of the U.S. they’d swiped from the attic of their most recent foster family; figuring that if they wouldn’t miss an actual human being, they probably wouldn’t miss an old piece of paper either. Scanning the starred cities an older kid in the house had been helpful enough to outline for them, Alex wondered if they were any closer to their destination’s star. They’d tried to hitch rides on trains going towards Mt. Ebott, but that was a little difficult to do when running on the Wheel of Fortune’s whim for that day.

The train lurched to a halt and Alex tilted an ear towards the intercom to hear where they’d stopped, then quickly checked their map for any of the starred cities on their map. This had become their routine over the past couple days; usually, they had no such luck in landing exactly where they wanted and would just end up hopping trains for a little while until they were on an entirely new track.

But it would appear that on that day, Lady Fortune had spun in their favor; the stop announced was none other than the little town that lay at the base of Mt. Ebott. Hopping off their seat, Alex grabbed their backpack and sped from the train car; leaving the station behind once and for all.

The air outside was warm and heavy, making Alex’s cold skin tingle like the first seepings of warmth crawling across your skin after bundling up in a blanket after coming in from the cold. Trains and the stations they reeled to stops in were kept too cold for Alex’s comfort, and they were glad to be rid of the artificial smell of air conditioner.

Looking up over the small buildings that punctuated the horizons, Alex spied the peak of Mt. Ebott rising in the distance like a burgeoning sunrise. Smiling to themself, Alex walked forward with no trace of fear in their steps.

Passing through the shop-lined streets of the little town, Alex tried to look like they knew where they were going. Unlike the people in the train stations, many of the people that passed Alex were in no rush and therefore had the time to question why a nine-year-old was walking around by themself.

A woman with dark wavy hair and a stern face looked like she wanted to stop Alex and ask where their parents were; but thankfully, her attention was quickly diverted to the young child at her side, who was beating their hands excitedly against the window of the pet store next to them. Alex smiled watching the younger kid try to give equal attention to the scores of puppies now yipping at them through the thick pane of glass.

“Mom! Let’s get a puppy!!” the little kid pleaded, now tugging at the woman’s long black skirt.

The woman let out a cross between a sigh and a laugh, bending down to scoop the little child up into her arms. “Not today, honey.”

“Awwwww, no fair!” the child whined, settling their chin against their mother’s shoulder and pulling their face into a pout.

“Maybe for your birthday,” their mother said, patting the child’s back soothingly.

Alex watched the pair of them go further down the sidewalk, staring after them until they turned a corner and were out of sight. Turning back around, Alex couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy at what that little kid had. The safety and security of someone else’s arms was something Alex had never known.

Continuing down the sidewalk at a brisk pace, they shook the thought from their head and looked towards the mountain still visible above the building tops. In fact, their gaze was so focused on Mt. Ebott that they forgot to also take notice of the other people walking past them; and it wasn’t long before they rounded a corner and knocked shoulders with someone a few inches shorter than them.

“Ouch!” another kid exclaimed, jerking to a halt and turning to glare up at Alex. This kid was older than the one who’d been banging on the pet shop window; and they had a bright pink tutu on that looked as if it were one more layer of tulle away from swallowing their body whole. “What’s the big idea?” they glowered up at Alex. “World not big enough for ya!?”

Alex blinked in shock at first, but quickly found their temper rising to meet that of their unexpected opponent. “Maybe you should just watch where you’re going!” they spat.

“Ohoho! Tough guy, huh!?” the other kid raised their eyebrows in feigned surprise. “Are you lookin’ for a fight or what?”

“I am lookin’ for a fight, you wanna tussle!?” Alex bared their fists and took up a fighting stance.

The other kid snorted, taking up a ballet position. “I bet I can take you down in one-”

“Bell!”

A third kid came rushing up in between the two of them, and Alex had to do a double take. Literally. The two kids standing before them were almost completely identical, the only difference being the one called ‘Bell’ had longer hair.

“Bell,” the other kid wheezed, a little out of breath. “Mom’s been looking for you everywhere. We aren’t supposed to leave the store without her.”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Bell rolled their eyes. “I was gonna come right back, after I taught this jerk here a lesson.”  

“Don’t be stupid, they’re at least two years older than you,” their twin said, turning to look at Alex. “I’m sorry. We don’t want to fight.”

Alex lowered their fists and blew a strand of hair from their eyes. “It’s alright,” they said. “I didn’t really have time for a fight anyways.”

“Sounds to me like you’re chicken!” Bell taunted, and their twin began to tug them away.

Alex watched the two siblings go and, for the second time, found themself jealous of what those two had in each other. But that was a different sob story for a different day.

Taking a deep breath and directing their focus towards the mountain in the distance, Alex continued forward determined not to be distracted again. And for the most part, they were not. A few adults stopped and asked them where their parents were, but none were overly concerned since it was the middle of the afternoon and Alex assured them they were just around the corner.

Eventually, they made it past the edges of the town and found themself at the dusty base of the mountain. The locals must have figured that fables of those who climbed the mountain never returning served as all the security the mountain needed, because Alex found nary a police officer or security camera in sight as they walked up the dirt path to the mountain’s entrance.

_ It must not be that dangerous, if someone made a path. _ Alex thought, a little disappointed. They’d been a little excited about the idea of actually climbing the mountain, but it was probably just as well that they didn’t have to; since all they’d brought in their backpack was a rope, a flashlight, and a half-empty water bottle.

The path up the mountain was lined with golden flowers, whose petals caught on the sunlight and glowed with an almost magical quality. Alex plucked one at its stem in stride, sticking it into their headband.

Even though the walk up the mountain was long, Alex found it decidedly more pleasant than sitting on a train. It was quiet and sunny, and they could see far and wide from the height they’d reached by then. The stroll was so pleasant, they were almost sorry when they finally reached the entrance to Mt. Ebott.

The term ‘entrance’ was applied too liberally to what they reached at the end of the pathway, Alex decided. Mt. Ebott’s entrance was no more than a craggy opening in the mountainside that gave way to a pitch black darkness. It looked like the jaws of a monster ready to swallow whoever dared enter.

Taking their flashlight out of their backpack, Alex passed through the opening with only a second’s hesitation. Walking into the cavern, the air turned cold and damp, despite the summer heat swirling around just outside the cave’s mouth. Waving their flashlight over the stalactites that decorated the cavern’s ceiling, Alex could see why some people might be afraid of coming up there. And even though they considered themself brave for coming into the cavern at all, Alex wasn’t too proud too admit the shadowy darkness frightened them.

The cavern didn’t go too deep. Or maybe it did. Maybe there was more on the other side of the crevasse Alex had stopped at just an inch shy of falling into; but they hadn’t come up the mountain to see what was on the other side of the gaping hole, they’d come to see what was at the bottom of it.

Setting their flashlight down, Alex took their rope from their backpack and went to a nearby stalagmite. The rope was old and worn, but it was all they’d been able to get their hands on; under the circumstances, it was better than nothing. Tying the rope around the base of the stalagmite, Alex then tossed the length of the rope down the opening in the cave floor. There was no telling how far down it had gone, but Alex had to hope that it had gone far enough.

Stuffing their flashlight into their backpack and zipping the pocket up, Alex grabbed a hold of the rope and moved to the edge of the chasm. Taking a deep breath, Alex let it out in slow bursts through their mouth. Then, keeping a firm grip on the rope, they began their descent into the underground.

They’d seen footage of mountain climbers bouncing against rock faces to make a slow descent, and Alex tried to imitate that on their way down. But the rope burned their hands and the chasm was dark and deep. Every time they kicked off the wall, their hands would slip another few feet down the length of the rope.

Each slip down the rough hewn length of rope felt like a gamble to Alex, and they quickly found themself wondering when their only tether to the world above would unravel to its end. A small voice in the back of their head told them to give up and climb back to the surface where they knew what to expect, but Alex shook the thought away with a determined set of their jaw. They were not going to let stupid doubts and fears get in the way of their adventure. In fact, their resolve filled them with such fiery determination that they kicked forcefully off the wall one more time and let go of the rope completely.

It wasn’t until they were free falling at an earsplitting speed that Alex realized the error of their ways. Bringing their arms up to block their face as they’d always seen wrestlers on TV do, Alex repositioned themself so they’d land sitting up as opposed to landing jaw-first on a broken neck. But no matter how they’d repositioned themself, coming to a sudden stop  _ hurt _ . Although...not as much as Alex had expected it to hurt.

Opening their eyes one at a time, once they were sure they were through falling down, Alex looked at where exactly they’d landed. Their muscles relaxed out of sheer surprise, Alex’s palms coming down to rest at their sides in the bed of golden flowers they’d landed in. Reaching up, they touched the flower they’d stuck in their hair. It was the same as the ones they sat in now.

“What in the…” Alex muttered, standing up and brushing themself off; which proved easier said than done with how the golden flower seeds clung to their clothing. Looking themself over, Alex tested each of their limbs and found themself remarkably uninjured. Craning their neck upwards, they looked to the cavern’s ceiling to see how far they’d fallen.

They gave a low whistle, they couldn’t even see the end of their rope anymore. That almost concerned them, but then Alex just gave a shrug and decided if they really wanted to leave they’d just head out the exit on the other side of the mountain. Clapping their hands together, Alex stepped out of the patch of flowers and continued to move forwards.

Rounding a corner and coming to a new area in the underground, Alex skidded to a halt. There, up ahead of them, was a smiling golden flower. Like, as in, it literally had a smiling face and was watching Alex expectantly from where it sat in the pitch darkness. Reaching up to touch the flower in their hair again, Alex frowned. It was not the same as the one staring at them now.

Swallowing whatever apprehension they felt looking at their first honest-to-God monster, Alex did a few quick stretches and headed straight for the flower at a brisk pace. As Alex approached, the flower’s smile pulled into an even wider grin and, once Alex was within earshot, the flower opened his mouth to speak.

“Howdy!” the flower began. “I’m Flowey! Flowey the-”

**_BAM!_ **

Flowey broke off with a shocked gasp as Alex’s balled up fist came into contact with his petaled face. Trying to recombobulate himself, Flowey sharpened his glare up at the human child who’d just struck him.

“Hey!” Flowey snarled. “What gives, kiddo? I’m just trying to-”

**_POW!!_ **

Another punch landed directly in Flowey’s face again.

“You little-”

**_SMASH!_ **

“Stop hitting me and just-”

**_WHAM!_ **

“Jeez, what kind of human are you!?”

Alex brought their fist back for another punch. Their knuckles were cut up and bloody from getting caught on Flowey’s teeth, but they showed no hesitation as they began to rush their fist forward.

“OH JUST FORGET IT!!” Flowey screamed, popping underground and out of sight just as Alex’s fist was about to hit again.

Alex’s fist connected with the bare ground, dirt mixing into the cuts on their hand. As they realized the monster was out of sight, Alex slowly allowed themself to relax. Their chest heaved with the last remnants of their panicked breaths; that sinister-looking flower had scared them, but that had never stopped Alex from throwing a punch or two.

Taking one more deep breath to steady themself, Alex slowly staggered to their feet. Pressing a hand to their forehead, Alex subconsciously reached up to make sure their flower was still tucked safely into the folds of their headband. Sighing, they closed their eyes and tried to settle down before moving forward again.

“Wow, you’re so brave!” a voice called out suddenly, right in front of Alex’s face.

Without thinking, Alex gave a startled yell and struck out at what they thought was another monster come to attack them. But as their eyes focused in on the scene playing out in front of them, Alex saw that they’d hit another kid and that they were now falling to the ground with the force of Alex’s punch.

The other kid groaned, propping themself up on their elbows and looking up at Alex as if they were a lunatic. “What the heck is your problem!?”

Alex noticed with alarm that the other kid’s nose had started gushing blood, red staining the front of their white and pink striped shirt. “Sorry,” Alex leaned over and held a hand out to them. “I thought you were a monster. I’m sorry.”

“That’s still not an excuse,” the other kid said, reaching back to straighten the ribbon that kept their orange hair tied back in a high ponytail. “You shouldn’t be hitting anyone. Although, I guess I get it since it was Flowey who you were just fighting. But most monsters you can just talk your way out of fights, so don’t run around punching everyone you meet in the face.”

“Again, I’m really sorry,” Alex said, wincing at the sight of the other kid’s still-bleeding nose. Reaching back around their head, Alex untied their head band and held it out to the other kid. “Here.”

“Thanks,” the other kid replied, taking the bandana and pressing it just under their nose. When they spoke again, their voice sounded nasally and stifled. “So, did you just fall down?”

“Uh, yeah,” Alex tucked their golden flower behind their ear. “Fell...jumped...same thing.”

Amber eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why on earth would you jump down Mt. Ebott!?”

“Well, okay, first of all, I had every intention of climbing down here,” Alex began to explain. “But then I, uh...lost hold of my rope and I fell the rest of the way.”

“But you just said you jumped,” the other kid squinted, the freckles on their nose crinkling as their gaze turned skeptical.

“No, I didn’t,” Alex denied.

“Yes...you did,” the other kid insisted. “You said that jumping was the same as falling.”

“Right, yeah, so it could’ve been either!” Alex said. “And I fell. Simple as that.”

The other kid rolled their eyes and huffed an exasperated sigh. “Whatever. Let’s go with that,” they looked at Alex with a new kind of curiosity. “Why did you climb the mountain in the first place? And why would you try and climb down to the underground? Don’t you know the legends?”

“Yes, I do know the legends,” Alex said in a taunting mimic of the other kid’s voice. “The legends are why I climbed up here. And I climbed down because I wanted to kick some serious monster butt!”

“Oh, I see,” the other kid nodded. “So, in short, you came here because you’re an idiot.”

“Wh- Hey!” Alex’s cheeks burned. “I’m not an idiot!”

“You are if you think you’re gonna last two seconds on your own against any of the monsters outside the Ruins,” the other kid said.

“What do you know about it!?” Alex demanded. 

“I’ve lived here for two years, I know a bit more than you do.”

“Oh,” Alex faltered. “Okay, maybe, you have a point. Maybe. But either way, I’m super strong! I battled that flower and look! Not a scratch on me!”

The other kid raised an eyebrow and reached out; taking one of Alex’s wrists in their hand, they held up the younger kid’s bloody knuckles for them to see.

“Alright, maybe a few scratches,” Alex snatched their wrist back and looked at their bloodied hands.

“You really should wear boxing gloves or something when you go to fight someone.”

“I know, but I don’t have any,” Alex grumbled, shoving their hands in their pockets. Sighing, they looked to the older kid and let their shoulders slump in defeat. “So, if you live here, does that mean you have a place to sleep where, like, monsters won’t eat your face in the middle of the night?”

The other kid gave Alex a quizzical look. “You’ve got some monster stereotypes you gotta forget about, my friend. But yes, I do have a place to live down here.”

“Cool. That’s cool,” Alex nodded, rubbing the back of their neck sheepishly. “So, like, do you think I could...I mean, it’s cool if you don’t want a total stranger in your house but...uh…You know what? Nevermind, I-”

“Of course you can stay with me,” the other kid said. “But just a fair warning, my mom’s a monster so like...you can’t punch her.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t hit your mom,” Alex said, holding out a hand for the other kid. “I’m Alex, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Alex,” the other kid smiled around the headband still pressed to their nose. They reached out and shook Alex’s hand. “I’m Robin.”

* * *

“And that’s the Spider Bake Sale over there,” Robin jabbed their thumb towards a cobwebbed corner of the Ruins. “If you ever get any money, you should go buy something from them just to stay on their good side.”

“Noted,” Alex nodded. “Is your nose still bleeding?”

“Hm? Oh, let me check,” Robin stopped in their tracks. Taking Alex’s headband away from their face, Robin dabbed at their nose gingerly to check if it was still bleeding. Their fingers came away dry. “I guess it stopped. Here’s your headband back,” they held the length of fabric out to Alex. “Er, sorry about the bloodstains.”

“It’s okay,” Alex shrugged, tucking the bandana into their pocket until they could get it cleaned. “It makes it look more manly that way.”

“Yeah, it really compliments the abs printed on the front,” Robin laughed, picking up their walking pace again. “Say hi to the Froggits,” they said, waving to the frog-like monsters lined up to their left.

“Hi, Froggits!” Alex waved as well.

“They’re good for basic information about getting around down here,” Robin said, pausing to lean over and whisper in Alex’s ear. “Really though, Toriel’s the best source for that kind of stuff. But don’t let the Froggits know that, they like feeling smart and helpful.”

“Toriel,” Alex repeated as the two of them started walking again. “Is that your mom’s name?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, that’s her,” Robin nodded. “She’s the caretaker of the Ruins, so she knows everything about this place.”

“And you said you’ve been here for two years?” Alex asked.

“Uh, yep, give or take,” Robin nodded as they passed through a different area. “Careful of the trapdoors in this room.”

“Right,” Alex nodded, making sure to follow Robin’s footsteps exactly. “So, you’ve just been living in the Ruins this whole time? Isn’t there more to the underground?”

“Well, yes, but…” Robin trailed off, pausing to flip a switch behind a pillar they’d come to. “It’s not safe for humans out there.”

“How do you know?” Alex asked.

“I just do,” Robin huffed, picking up their walking pace. “We’re almost home, come on.”

So, Alex dropped the conversation for then. Following the swishing orange strands of Robin’s hair, Alex found themself in a clearing with an old blackened husk of a tree trunk. Robin walked up to the tree and place a hand to the old tree.

“Every time this old tree grows leaves, they fall off,” Robin said, patting the trunk. “Except, uh,” they skirted around the trunk and pointed up to one of the taller branches. “That one.”

Alex squinted up at the branch and saw a single red leaf waving proudly in the still air of the Ruins. “Why doesn’t that one fall?”

“I dunno,” Robin shrugged. “Maybe it’s stubborn?”

“Robin? Is that you, dear?” a woman’s voice called from somewhere out of sight.

Robin perked up a little, smiling in the voice’s direction. “I’m over here, Mom, by the old tree!” they called, turning back to Alex. “Time to meet my mom. Remember the no punching rule.”

“I got it, I got it,” Alex said, walking forwards with Robin into the next clearing.

Up ahead there was a tidy little house lined with mounds of the dead red leaves from the old tree. Seeing such a cute little home in the middle of the Ruins lifted Alex’s spirits and made them feel better about their situation on the whole. And if that weren’t enough, in the house’s doorway stood a tall goat-like monster smiling out at Robin as they approached; and even though she had fangs and towered taller than any person Alex had ever met, they couldn’t help but feel at ease as they looked up at her gentle face.

“Robin, my dear, what happened to you!?” Toriel exclaimed as Robin came closer and she saw the blood smeared down the front of her child’s shirt. “Are you hurt?”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Robin insisted, but allowed for Toriel to hover nervously around them for a bit until she was satisfied with Robin’s physical state. “Alex just punched me by accident and I got a nosebleed is all.”

“Alex?” Toriel raised an eyebrow, her gaze traveling down to Robin’s right and taking notice of the other human child in her presence for the first time. “Oh my…” She marveled. “Have you fallen down, little one?”

“Fell...jumped...same thing,” Robin said, throwing Alex a wink.

Alex felt their ears burn, ignoring Robin’s comment and looking up at Toriel. “Either way, guess I’m stuck down here. I was hoping it would be okay for me to stay with you? Just for tonight?”

Toriel smiled. “But of course,” she said. “You may stay as long as you need to, my child. Now, why don’t both of you come inside while I prepare dinner?”

“Sure,” Robin nodded, waving Alex along as they passed through the doorway. “Come on.”

Alex blinked once, then shook themself out of their daze and followed Toriel and Robin into the house

* * *

Later that evening, Robin and Alex sat on the floor of the main room while Toriel sat in her reading chair by the fire; Alex had taken off their backpack and was showing Robin their old tattered map.

“So, you’ve been to all these places?” Robin smoothed the map out and admired the gold-starred cities.

“Yeah, and even more than that,” Alex said, rolling over onto their stomach and pointing to different destinations on the map as they spoke. “The cities with stars are just the ones I had to follow to get to Mt. Ebott. I’ve lived all over the place. Moving from foster home to foster home.”

“Hmm,” Robin pursed their lips. “And did you like moving around so much?”

“Huh?” Alex looked up in surprise, no one had ever bothered asking whether or not they liked being moved around so much. “I, uh, don’t really know. I never thought about it. I’ve never stayed in one place for very long so it’s not like I know if I like that or not.”

“Well, I guess you will now,” Robin said, folding the map up into a neat square and handing it back to Alex.

“How so?” Alex laughed a little, figuring Robin was setting up for a joke. But when they looked back up, Robin’s expression was anything but joking.

“I, uh, you…” Robin shook their head slowly as they spoke, their eyebrows knitting together in apprehension as they continued to speak. “You can’t leave the Ruins, you know.”

Alex laughed a bit more, but this time it was strained with nerves. “What do you mean I can’t? Sure I can. There’s got to be more to the underground than just this,” Alex gestured around with a big sweep of their arm.

“No, there is, but-” Robin broke off, biting their finger and glancing up to Toriel for support. Toriel caught her child’s glance and closed her book, leaning forward in her chair to speak to Alex.

“My child, this is your home now,” she said. “You don’t need to worry about what else is out in the underground, the door to the Ruins can only be opened from the inside.”

“What door?” Alex asked, pushing up from the ground and standing to face Toriel.

“Urr…” Toriel looked to the side.

“Alex,” Robin spoke instead, standing up as well. “You don’t want to go out into the underground. It’s dangerous.”

“How do you know!?” Alex challenged. “You said you’ve been down here for two years. What do you know about the rest of the underground when you’ve only seen the Ruins?”

Robin blinked rapidly, raising their eyebrows. “Well, for your information, I-”

“Children, please,” Toriel spoke up at last, standing from her chair. “There’s no need to argue. Now, just...Just stay here, please. There’s something I must do.”

Toriel began to hurry from the room and, for a second, Alex was stunned enough to actual stand still where they were; but once the surprise of Toriel’s sudden mood shift wore off, they shook themself and drew their shoulders back.

“I most certainly will not stay here!” Alex declared, storming after Toriel with a determined glare on their face.

“Alex, wait!” Robin intercepted the younger kid, throwing their arms wide to block Alex from moving forward. “She knows what’s best, just let her go.”

Alex rolled their eyes. “Maybe she knows what’s best for  _ you _ , but I can make my own decisions,” they said, balling their hands into fists at their sides. “Now, get out of my way.”

“No,” Robin crossed their arms and stood glued to the spot, matching Alex’s glare with one of their own.

“I said: Get out of my way!” Alex took a step forward and, with a rough shove, pushed Robin to the side.

Robin stumbled and crashed into the doorframe. “Hey!” they shouted as Alex stormed past them and followed Toriel down the stairs she’d disappeared under. “You can’t do that! You can’t hit your way out of everything!!”

“Well, I just did,” Alex rolled their eyes again. They could hear Robin’s footsteps behind them, but they ignored them and focused on catching up to Toriel.

“Just stop!” Robin pleaded, grabbing Alex’s wrist from behind.

“No,” Alex shook Robin’s grip off and quickening their pace as they rounded the corner. “I’m not scared of the underground like you two are.”

“If you were smart, you would be!” Robin shouted. “You know there’s a law put out by King Asgore that every human who falls down must die, right!? If you go out there, you’ll get killed.”

“Yeah? I’d like to see anyone try and kill me,” Alex said, catching a glimpse of Toriel’s swishing skirts up ahead. “I’ll give them a taste of their own medicine just like I did with Flowey.”

“There are bigger monsters out there than just golden flowers,” Robin murmured.

“Ugh!” Alex groaned, spinning around and facing Robin. “How do you know?”

“Wh- I-” Robin stammered, taken aback by the question. “I just- I just do, okay? Just trust me, I know.”

“ _ How!? _ ” Alex demanded. “You want me to trust you? Be honest with me and tell me how you know. Did Toriel tell you about what’s out there? Because she could have lied to you, you know!”

“She wouldn’t,” Robin said. “Besides, that’s not how I know.”

“Then how?” Alex pressed, not letting the subject drop this time.

“Because...Because I…” Robin bit their lip and looked up to the ceiling before closing their eyes tightly and taking a deep breath. “Because I didn’t fall down like you. I didn’t fall into the Ruins.”

“You didn’t fall into the Ruins?” Alex echoed. “Then where did you fall down!? Because as far as I know, the only way down here is through the Mt. Ebott chasm.”

Robin took a deep breath. “There’s a river,” they began. “Near the top of the mountain. It ends in a waterfall that leads into the base of the mountain. That’s where I fell down.”

Alex squinted at Robin. “You jumped into a raging river?”

“No!” Robin shouted, it was the loudest Alex had heard their voice since they’d met and it made them jump. “I didn’t jump. I was thrown. My human parents threw me into the river because they didn’t want me.”

“Oh jeez,” Alex rubbed the back of the neck, unsure of how to respond. How was someone even supposed to react when they heard something like that? “I’m...really sorry, Robin. That sucks.”

“Yeah, majorly,” Robin sighed, moving to lean their back against the nearest wall and slumping into the position. “But anyway, I fell down and monsters attacked me. I almost died. If it weren’t for my friend Napstablook bringing me here, I would have. So, that’s how I know it’s dangerous out there.”

Alex sighed, looking down the hall to where they could no longer see any glimpse of Toriel. Looking back to Robin, Alex walked over and sat down next to them. Drawing their knees up to their chest, Alex reached over and placed a hesitant hand on one of Robin’s. When Robin didn’t pull away, Alex gave Robin’s hand a squeeze.

“You almost died?” Alex asked quietly.

“Yep,” Robin nodded, pulling their hand away so they could push up the sleeve of their striped sweater. “A souvenir from the Head of the Royal Guard.”

Robin held their bare forearm out for Alex to see. Laced up and down the pale freckled skin, were wide, faded scars that must have at one point been deep bloody gashes. Alex shuddered just looking at them, and was silently relieved when Robin pulled their sleeve back down.

“She has really sharp claws,” Robin said quietly, folding their hands over their lap and looking down the hallway in the direction that would lead them back home. “There are some things even Toriel's magic can’t heal completely, I guess.”

Alex nodded and turned their gaze straight ahead to the wall opposite them. “So, you’re just going to stay in the Ruins forever then?”

“That was the plan, yeah,” Robin nodded. “So long as the monsters need seven human souls to break the barrier that keeps them trapped here, it’s not gonna be safe for us to go out there.”

“Seven human souls,” Alex repeated. “How many do they have right now?”

“I would have been the first one,” Robin said.

“But...can humans pass through this barrier?” Alex asked.

Robin cocked their head to the side and gave Alex a puzzled look. “I don’t know,” they shrugged.

“And you never wanted to find out?” Alex raised their eyebrows.

“Surprisingly, after almost getting skewered to death, I didn’t feel the urge,” Robin said. “But I guess I’m just funny like that.”

Alex rolled their eyes and pushed themself up off the ground. “I guess you are. Because I want to find out.”

“What!?” Robin exclaimed, jumping to their feet as well. “Even after everything I told you, you still want to leave!?”

“Yeah,” Alex shrugged, spinning on their heel and heading down the hallway. “You should come with me, it could be a lot of fun.” 

“Or it could be a lot of death,” Robin countered.

“Well, that’s why you should come!” Alex spun around and began walking backwards. “You know more about the underground than I do, you could be like my tour guide. Together, we’d kick some monster butt!”

Robin rolled their eyes and groaned. “I don’t want to kick any monster butt! I want to stay alive!”

“Come on, Rob, I know you’ve gotta be bored to tears down here,” Alex said, testing out the nickname for Robin with an easygoing grin.

“And you just keep proving my point about how stupid you are. I happen to like it down here,” Robin said.

“Don’t you ever want to try something new though?” Alex asked, spinning back around to walk normally again. “I mean, where’s the harm in that?”

“It’s like you completely forgot the whole ‘Every human who falls down must die.’ thing,” Robin said. “There’s a whole lot of harm in that.”

“No risk no reward and all that,” Alex muttered, passing into the next part of the hallway. “Besides, if we make it through, we could be like the rulers of the underground. And if we fail-”

Alex broke off mid sentence, their footsteps coming to a halt as a pair of imposing purpled doors loomed above them. Standing in the middle where the two doors met, was Toriel. Her back was turned to the children, and her shoulders were drawn up in a way that made her appear almost regal.

“If you fail, you will be killed,” Toriel said. “You foolish child, do you think he will show you mercy?”

“He?” Alex asked quietly, looking back to Robin for help but finding the other child standing timidly towards the back of the room.

“King Asgore,” Toriel said, spitting the name out as if it burned her tongue. “He has vowed to kill every human who falls down here. He will not spare you or Robin simply because you are children. If you leave here, you will die. It is as simple as that.”

“Well, has any human ever tried getting past him before?” Alex asked. “Because if Robin was the first human to fall down here, I’m guessing not.”

“Hey!” Robin crossed their arms indignantly. 

“Oh, come on, you know it’s true,” Alex whispered over their shoulder.

“No human has and no human will,” Toriel said. “I am going to destroy this doorway so no one may ever leave the Ruins again.”

“You’re gonna what!?” Alex exclaimed.

“Mom,” Robin murmured. “Isn’t that a little extreme?”

“I know what is best for you, children,” Toriel said. “Now, go upstairs and let us never speak of this again.”

Alex looked over their shoulder to Robin and then back to Toriel. “No,” they refused, reaching into their pocket and taking out their bloodstained bandana and tying it around their forehead. “I won’t let you do that.”

“You are determined then?” Toriel asked, turning around to look at Alex finally. She towered over them, so much so that Alex had to crane their neck to look at her. “Very well then. Prove that you are strong enough to survive on your own out there.”

Robin’s eyes widened as they realized what was about to happen. “Wait!” they cried out, rushing forward to yank Alex back. But just as they were about to grab the younger child’s sleeve, a black wall came up around Toriel and Alex. The battle dome.

Alex looked around and the murky blackness that now surrounded them. They were about to ask Toriel what had happened, when a slew of flames came rushing at them. Holding up their hands to block their face, Alex felt the flames scorch their tan skin. The heat was becoming nearly unbearable, when the attack suddenly stopped.

Looking up to where Toriel stood, Alex considered their options. Their instincts told them to fight back; but looking down at their burned and cut up hands, Alex hardly felt that was a worthwhile choice. Besides, they’d promised Robin they wouldn’t punch their mom; and Alex wasn’t about to break a promise he’d made to a friend.

So, they didn’t fight back. The flames raged on and on, and Alex just stood and took it. Once or twice, they tried reaching out and talking to Toriel, but the goat monster had just stood and stared silently down at Alex in response.

Eventually, Alex noticed a change in Toriel’s attacks. The flames were no longer hitting them; which Alex would have chalked up to their excellent dodging skills, but they were way too scuffed up already to think that they had any skill in that department. Alex looked up at Toriel in astonishment. She was purposefully making her flame attacks miss Alex.

“What are you doing!?” Alex asked as they stood in the midst of a shower of flames.

“Why won’t you fight back!?” Toriel demanded, the first words she’d spoken throughout the entire battle. “Attack or run away!”

“No!” Alex spat back.

“What are you proving this way?” Toriel shouted as she brought another hail of flames down.

_ What am I proving? _ Alex wondered to themself as flames sizzled into the stony floor.

“Fight me or leave!” Toriel said. “Go away!”

Alex grit their teeth and stood their ground, they knew what Toriel was trying to do. She was trying to make them too scared to leave the Ruins, but they saw right through her. Toriel didn’t want to hurt Alex, and they knew if they could just hold out long enough that Toriel would finally falter in her resolve.

“Please, child,” Toriel said, her shoulders drooping a bit as she brought her flame attacks to a halt. “I know you want to leave, but please. Please, go back upstairs.”

Alex shook their head, not allowing themself to waver.

“I promise I’ll take good care of you here. And you and Robin will have each other,” Toriel tried for a smile, but the expression fell away from her face like snow melting in the sun. She looked to Alex and sighed. “No, you are right. It is not right to force you to stay here. You would just be unhappy.”

Alex let their expression soften a little bit, feeling the injuries on their hands twinge as they unballed their fists. In a rush, the murky black battle dome fell away and Alex was staring up at the great purple doors once again. Behind them, they could hear Robin gasp but they didn’t turn to look at them; their eyes were glued on Toriel.

“If you wish to leave, I will not stop you,” Toriel said, kneeling down and wrapping Alex in a tight hug. Then, she stood; walking past Robin and Alex to head back up the hallway to her house. “Though if you do leave, promise you will not come back. Robin, I will leave the decision to you.”

Then, Toriel was gone, her footsteps retreating down the hallway and then disappearing altogether. Robin and Alex stood alone together at the exit to the rest of the underground.

“Well,” Alex held out one burned hand. “Do you wanna come?”

Robin raised their hand as if they meant to take it, but paused at the last moment. Turning away from Alex, Robin reached for one of the doors’ massive handles and pulled open the exit for the younger child.

“Say hi to the rest of the underground for me,” Robin smiled.

Alex nodded silently. Walking past Robin, they passed through the open door and let it close behind them. Letting go of a deep breath, Alex blinked out into the darkness.

It turned out that the door Toriel had been blocking hadn’t been the real exit at all. There was still a long purple road to walk and then another set of doors. Alex rolled their eyes, all of that rigamarole and it hadn’t even been the real exit. Picking up a quick stride, Alex made for the end of the hallway.

As they got further to the next set of doors, Alex spied a familiar shape appearing on the horizon. It was a single golden flower.

Alex reached up to the flower still tucked behind their ear and hoped that the one appearing before them now was just the same. An ordinary flower with no face or creepy little voice to snicker out at them with. But as Alex drew closer, they felt their heart sink. The flower that awaited them had a smile on its petaled face.

Flowey gave a low whistle as Alex approached. “Look at you, all fresh from the fight,” he said, turning a smirk up to the child. “That old hag always was a pushover for you little humans.”

“I can pummel you into the dirt again, you know,” Alex threatened, raising their charred fist in warning and wincing involuntarily at the pain the motion caused.

“With hands like those?” Flowey scoffed. “Oh yeah, I’m really scared of you, tough guy. But don’t worry, I’m not going to try and kill you again. I’ll leave that to Asgore.” 

“I won’t die,” Alex snarled.

“Awfully cocky for having only beaten the likes of Toriel in a fight, aren’t we?” Flowey smiled. “Other monsters aren’t like her. Other monsters don’t like humans. Other monsters want you dead, little buddy. What are you gonna do when you meet a relentless killer? Gonna smooth talk your way out of that one too? Don’t make me laugh.”

Alex drew their shoulders back as if preparing for a fight. “Who says I can’t?”

Flowey rolled his eyes. “You’re a punch first, ask questions later kind of kid. Our first little meeting was enough proof to show that to me. See you’re gonna go out there and the second that being nice and friendly stops working, you’ll snap. Whether out of frustration or boredom or just plain rage, you’ll turn into a killer. And once you start, you won’t want to stop.”

“How do you know?” Alex challenged.

“Because that’s the only way you win this little game,” Flowey snorted. “In this world, it’s kill or be killed. So, good luck out there. Can’t wait to see your soul when it’s ripped out of your body.”

At that, Flowey’s face contorted into a grotesque smile with too many teeth. Letting out a fierce mocking cackle, the flower rescinded back into the ground with a pop, leaving Alex alone in front of the doorway out to the rest of the underground.

At first, Alex ignored everything the flower had said to them and moved towards the doors without a moment’s hesitation. But as their hand came to rest on one of the door handles, Alex froze and looked up at the monumental doors. They thought about what Flowey had said and realized that there was some truth in it. They did rush into situations with their fists. The only reason they hadn’t fought back against Toriel was because they’d promised Robin they wouldn’t.

Alex brought their hand away from the door handle and took a step backwards. Were they really ready to head out into the underground? Or was it their stupid hubris blocking their common sense like it always did? It was true that Alex liked to fight, but they didn’t want to kill anyone. They’d never liked bullies, and they couldn’t stand the thought of becoming someone who hurt other people because they liked it.

Taking a shaky breath, Alex turned away from the door and looked back down the hallway. And for the first time, Alex let their fears control them. Taking to their heels, Alex bolted down the hall and rushed back through the first set of doors.

When Alex came back into the room in which they’d fought Toriel, they found that Robin was still there. Their back was turned as if they’d just gotten up the energy to turn and leave the room; but when they heard the door open, Robin whirled around with a wide-eyed expression.

An overjoyed grin split across Robin’s face when they saw Alex, and they ran forward and threw their arms around Alex’s neck. After a moment, they pulled back and smiled down at the younger kid.

“Does this mean you’re staying?” Robin asked, face full of hope.

“For now,” Alex nodded. “I figure it won’t be as much fun going through the underground if I gotta do it alone. Plus, y’know, there’s that whole threat of being killed thing. That really puts a damper on the adventure.”

Robin laughed, putting an arm around Alex’s shoulders and leading them back up the hallway to the house. “Well, I’m glad you decided to stay. I’ll only admit this once but, uh, I think I would have missed you once you were gone.” 

“Aw, Rob, you flatter me,” Alex waved an injured hand, wincing again at the pain. “Er, do you think Toriel could heal my hands for me? Is that a thing she can do?”

“Yes, I would say that’s definitely something she can do for you,” Robin nodded. They walked in silence for a little while, but before they reached the end of the hallway Robin took a breath to speak again.

“So, why didn’t you fight back against Toriel?” Robin asked once they reached the bottom of the staircase that would lead back up into the house.

Alex looked down at their injured hands and shrugged. “I told you I wouldn’t punch your mom,” they said.

“Really? That’s all?” Robin raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well, and I guess there was a part of me that…” Alex blew air out of one cheek and looked down to their toes. “I kind of wanted to prove that I could win a fight without throwing a punch.”

After a moment of silence, Alex tore their gaze away from their toes and looked back up to Robin to find the older kid beaming with pride.

“What!? Stop looking at me like that!” Alex blushed.

Robin rolled their eyes and began to walk up the stairs. “Come on,” they said. “Let’s go home.”

Alex watched Robin go up a few steps then pause and wait for them to come up, flashing Alex a smile over their shoulder. Throwing one glance back down the hallway, Alex decided that maybe there was an adventure that they could find right there in the Ruins. And that maybe sometimes the bravest thing to do was to stay out of trouble and keep yourself alive a little longer. Looking back up to Robin, Alex returned their smile and began up the stairs.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Let’s go home.”


	3. Integrity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The blue soul - Bell!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bad boy finger snapping* Bet you thought you'd gotten rid of me for good, huh?
> 
> Anyways, here's a new chapter for the seven extremely patient subscribers of this fic!!

“Not bad, class; but I still see a few people missing the beat. Let’s run through that beginning one more time.”

Bell Beaumont bit the inside of their cheek to keep from letting out an exasperated groan. Their dance instructor had been running through the beginning of their class’ upcoming recital “one more time” for the past hour of ballet practice.

Bell, of course, had been practicing the entire routine at home since last week’s class when the instructor had demonstrated it for the first time; they’d mastered the steps within three days and felt ready to march up to the front of the class and prove it to everyone.

Tossing a look to their twin brother Blue, who had been practicing all week right alongside them, Bell rolled their eyes and gave an infuriated jab in the direction of the old plastic clock hanging on the wall. Blue rolled his eyes in agreement, but shrugged to show there was nothing he could do about the fact that none of their classmates had mastered the moves to the recital yet.

The instructor, having caught Bell’s jabbing finger directed at the clock and misinterpreting it as impatience for class to wrap up, cleared her throat and clapped her hands.

“Alright class, since it seems _some of you_ can’t wait to get out of here-” the instructor threw Bell a scolding look to single them out. “-we’ll just stop now and pick this up next week. Remember to practice!”

Bell raised their hands to either side of their head and slowly clenched them into bone-crushingly tight fists as they attempted to keep from screaming themself into another dimension. Bringing their arms down swiftly to their sides, Bell whirled around and went to the back of the room to collect their bag with the rest of their classmates.

“What a waste of time,” Bell muttered, kicking their practice flats off and slipping on their tennis shoes. “Would it have killed you guys to practice at home a bit more?”

“Oh, come off it, Bell!” One boy, Justin, shouted as he moved towards the exit.

“Yeah, jeez, this is like every week,” A girl with big curly red hair tied back in a green ribbon named Heidi added, moving towards the door as well. “Sorry we’re not perfect like you.”

“I’m not asking for perfection, I’m asking for some effort,” Bell slung their bag over their shoulder and stormed towards the exit as well. Blue came up along their side and cast glances of worry between them and the other kids exiting the studio with them.

“ _I’m not asking for perfection, I’m asking for some effort_ ,” Theo, who was missing their two front teeth, mimicked Bell’s voice; making talking motions with their hand and crossing their eyes.

“Original comeback,” Bell rolled their eyes and walked a little faster, storming away from the group with a dignified huff. “Sounds to me you’re just jealous that I’m a better dancer than you,” they called over their shoulder.

“Bell…” Blue winced from where he still stood among his classmates, more welcome than his twin. “Please, don’t start.”

“Hah!” A girl with a sparkly pink hairclip named Abby laughed over Blue’s voice, pointing a daring finger at Bell’s back. “You probably don’t even know the whole recital yet.”

“Oh yeah?” Bell whipped around, stopping in their tracks. A chorus of sarcastic oohs arose from their classmates, each of them smirking in anticipation of the dramatic scene that was about to unfold.

“Yeah,” Abby continued, crossing her arms triumphantly.

Bell began to slowly walk towards the girl; but as they walked, they began to squint and sniff the air heavily, like they were searching out a thinly masked odor. “You guys smell that?” they asked, punctuating their question with a large sniff. “Smells like a bet coming on.”

Blue jolted upright, pushing past the other kids and rushing towards Bell with his hands waving frantically. “Bell, wait, don’t-”

“I bet I can dance the entire recital without any flaws along the edge of the Mt. Ebott chasm!” Bell shouted over Blue, swinging their arm towards the nearest window and pointing at the silhouette of the infamous mountain range visible on the horizon.

Shocked gasps filtered through the hallway, the other kids exchanging looks like none of them knew how to respond to that. Growing up at the mountain’s base, they’d all been indoctrinated with an ever present fear of what befell humans who dared climb Mt. Ebott. And although they’d all climbed up to the chasm at least once before on a dare; playing around near the foreboding precipice that led to the underground wasn’t a risk even the high school aged kids were willing to take. But, despite all of that, here was an ten-year-old kid daring themself to not only climb the mountain, but putting themself at risk of falling down as well.

“Bell, you’ve gotta be freakin’ kidding me,” Blue let go of a breathless huff of air, like he’d just run up a flight of stairs.

“They won’t do it,” Abby scoffed, crossing her arms and smirking at Bell. “They’re all talk, they’re just trying to impress us.”

“I don’t need to _try_ to impress people,” Bell waved a dismissive hand in Abby’s direction. “Sounds to me like you’re scared to climb the big scary monster mountain.”

Abby’s cheeks fumed as her classmates began making chicken noises in her direction. Stamping her foot, Abby fixed Bell with a spiteful glare, “Fine,” she bit out. “Tomorrow at dawn. Everyone meet at the base of Mt. Ebott to watch Bell drop off the edge of a cliff.”

“The only thing that’s gonna drop…” Bell smirked, quirking one eyebrow up and making a sweeping gesture at their gathered peers. “...are your jaws.” 

Abby rolled her eyes in response, storming forward and brushing past Bell with an intentional knock against their shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”

The other kids dispersed as well, all of them humming with excitement about the next morning’s promised event. In a few minutes, only Bell and Blue were left in the hallway of the rec center.

Blue stared at Bell in bewilderment, his mouth gaping like a fish out of water.

“What?” Bell threw their hands up in an unconcerned shrug.

Blue closed his mouth into a tight, thin line. Shaking his head, Blue stomped down the hall and past Bell as well, not waiting for them to catch up.

“Aw, Blue, come on!” Bell called, running to match pace with their brother.

“I most certainly will not ‘come on’!” Blue shouted, pushing the heavy doors that led outside open. The air outside was muggy with summer heat; it was during weather like this that Bell and Blue regretted the fact that they lived close enough by that they could walk themselves to and from dance practice. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble like you always do with your stupid bets, Bell.”

“Wh-” Bell spluttered, pressing a hand to their chest to show just how insulted they were. “When have I ever gotten in trouble because of a bet!?”

“Hm, let’s see…” Blue tapped his chin thoughtfully, as if he’d been waiting for the opportunity to drag up the list of his twin’s bet-induced blunders. “There was the time you bet you could walk on your hands overtop of the monkey bars and broke your arm. Or there was the time you almost ran over the Cohen’s dog because you bet you could ride your bike backwards. Or that time you crashed our computer’s hard drive because you made a bet with some online stranger that you could personally add one million likes to a single video by yourself and sat there clicking the mouse for three hours. Or the time that-”

“Okay, okay, I get it. I have messed up in the past,” Bell waved their hands in Blue’s face to get him to stop. “But this time, there’s no way anything could possibly go wrong! I know this dance routine like the back of my hand. It’ll be a piece of cake!”

“Sure it will,” Blue rolled his eyes, turning a corner and looking to their house as it pulled into view. “Either that or it’ll be a big ol’ slice of humble pie.” 

“Blue, you wound me,” Bell clasped a hand dramatically to their chest, running up and striking a pose against the white picket fence that bordered their yard. “Have you no faith in your own twin?”

“I have faith alright, Bell,” Blue scoffed as he passed Bell and went through the gate onto the walkway that led to their front door. “Faith that your reckless behavior is gonna get you killed one of these days.”

* * *

 The following morning, Bell and Blue were still arguing as Bell suited up for their trip up the mountain.

“I’m just saying, who cares if you back out? Not me. I’d love it if you backed out of this stupid, _stupid_ bet,” Blue whispered, not wanting to wake their parents up. He might’ve been willing to contest his sibling about their betting problem, but he wasn’t willing to narc them out to their parents.

“No way. I said I could do it and I can and I’m going to,” Bell whispered back as they adjusted their best tutu around their waist; it was a gaudy, glittery pink cloud of tulle that was almost as wide as Bell was tall. Crossing to the trunk at the foot of their bed, Bell flipped the top open and began digging around. “Besides, I’ll have my secret weapon with me,” they said, proudly brandishing an old pair of bright red ballet slippers.

“Mom’s ballet slippers!?” Blue’s eyes bulged out of his head. “Bell, you can’t wear those, they’re way too big for your feet. You’ll trip and fall!”

“Oh please, it’ll be fine,” Bell rolled their eyes, lacing the long ribbons up their shins. Standing up once both slippers were secured, Bell nodded towards the bedroom door and flashed a grin at Blue. “Shall we?”

Blue gave a long-suffering sigh, but reluctantly followed Bell out into the hallway. The two of them crept along the hall; Bell had tested their old house’s creaking floorboards the night before so they knew which ones were the noisiest and thus the ones to avoid. Picking their way down the stairs, Bell and Blue crept to the front door and eased it open as quietly as they could with Bell turning the knob and Blue pressing on the door hinges to keep them from creaking.

As the pair burst out onto the front porch of their home, they were enveloped by the cool air of an early morning undisturbed by any people yet. The sky was still dark and starry, the rising sun less than a vague inclination on the distant horizon.

Bell took a deep breath in through their nose and rose up on their tiptoes, coming back down as the exhaled; giving an excited little flounce, Bell strode off the porch and down the front walkway. Blue took a deep breath, too, but his felt more like a tire about to pop, only to very suddenly deflate as the air went out of him; but nevertheless, Blue followed Bell off the porch and towards Mt. Ebott.

The walk to the path that led up to Mt. Ebott wasn’t that far from home. That part of the stories had always struck Bell as ironic; there was this huge mountain that people were said to have never returned from climbing, and yet someone at some point had thought: “Oh yeah, that is the place to be.” and built a town right next to its base.

When Bell had expressed this to Blue one day though, he’d replied that the town they lived in predated the war between monsters and humans and that since the monsters were trapped underground, no one had really seen a reason to move away. Still, it made Bell slightly uneasy to think that there were hundreds of monsters imprisoned right underneath their feet, suffering in an inescapable prison that stupid kids like them used to stake their petty bets on.

Shaking the thought from their head, Bell turned to Blue and elbowed him in the side with a grin.

“Ouch, Bell! What!?” Blue turned a glare to his twin.

Bell laughed once before calling “Race ya!” over their shoulder as they sped away running at their top speed.

“Hey!” Blue called, picking up his own pace so he was running as well. “That’s cheating, you got a head start!”

Bell laughed harder, and then cut off with a gasp as their feet slipped in their mom’s ballet slippers. They tripped forward onto the ground, but rescued themself with a somersault and was quickly back on their feet. The lag in their pace had been just enough time though for Blue to catch up; and pushing past Bell with a taunting laugh of his own, he managed to beat them to the edge of the trail that led up to Mt. Ebott.

Bell caught up, wheezing slightly, and smiled at their brother. When they finally were close enough to grab Blue by the shoulders, Bell took a hold of their twin to steady themself and just started laughing. Blue looked down at Bell as they laughed harder and harder with each passing minute; later, when everything was said and done, that’s how he would always remember them: Laughing so hard that tears fell down their face, in a pair of slippers too big for their feet.

But in the moment, all Blue could do was laugh along and try to straighten their sibling up. “Jesus, Bell, what is so freakin’ funny?”

Bell took a few broken breaths in between their laughter and, clutching their side, looked up at Blue with an absolutely ridiculous grin split across their dirt-streaked face.

“I cheated and I still lost,” Bell said, another bubble of laughter taking over their voice. And then they were doubled over laughing again, unable to get another word out.

Blue shook his head and laughed too. “I guess it’s true. Cheaters never win.”

And that was how the pair of them went up the trail, laughing as they held onto each other to keep from toppling over and blissfully unconcerned with the threat of failure that awaited them at the top of the mountain.

When Bell and Blue reached the entrance to the chasm that led to the underground, the air of joviality surrounding them wicked out faster than the flame of a birthday candle under the breath of a child lucky enough to still believe in wishes. Their dance classmates were all gathered at the chasm’s entrance, pausing in whatever they had been doing to watch Bell come up to meet them.

“Well, look who decided to show their face,” Abby pushed off the mountain’s rocky side and turned a smirk towards Bell. “A few more minutes and we would’ve left, you know.”

“Like you’ve all got something better to do with your lives,” Bell scoffed, giving their dark curls a bounce with a toss of their head.

“Enough,” Blue stepped in between Abby and Bell. “Did we come here to say stupid things or did we come here to do stupid stuff?”

“True that, Blue!” Theo called out. “Let’s get to the dance recital!”

“Oh, so now you want me to do the bet?” Bell muttered to their twin.

“No,” Blue hissed through clenched teeth. “But I’d rather get this over with than stand here listening to you and Abby run your mouths for the next thirty minutes.”

“Alright, then, can do,” Bell nodded, pulling their shoulders back and striding into the chasm with a facade of complete confidence. “Those who aren’t chicken, follow me!”

“We are going to regret this so much,” Blue groaned, following Bell with two fingers pinched around the bridge of his nose.

Bell tried to keep stride with the courage of their convictions as they led their dance class into the infamous caverns of Mt. Ebott. They were glad they had taken up the lead of the procession; because when they were at the front of the group, no one could see how scared they looked.

The morning light filtering in from the mouth of the cave was the only source of illumination for the small troupe of young dancers, and it hardly begat the dazzling spectacle that Bell so desperately wanted to create in that ominous space. Nevertheless, Bell was determined to outshine the darkness of the scenery and turned at last to face their peers.

“Friends and enemies!” Bell’s voice boomed out grandly. They raised their arms up into the air as if they were the ringleader at the circus, smiling through the anxiety pounding in their ribcage. “You have all gathered here today to witness a great triumph,” they continued. “Whether that triumph is for my ego or yours remains to be seen!”

The small burble of laughter that followed that statement gave Bell’s confidence a boost, and they felt their fears quell a bit.

“Alright now, without further ado…” Bell trailed off as they poised themself in their starting position, their toes lining up perfectly with the edge of the precipice that lay gaping to their side. Taking a deep breath, Bell let their eyes fall shut.

 _Last chance to back out,_ they thought. They opened their eyes and glanced at Blue, who was gnawing anxiously on his thumbnail. _Maybe it’s better to just drop it and stay on the safe side for once,_ they thought. They glanced around the cavern and spied a rock with an old, tattered rope tied around it. _What if the legends about this mountain really are true?_ they thought. Swallowing hard, they looked down at the faded red satin of their mother’s ballet shoes and felt their entire face fall. _Mom and Dad will be so worried about you if they find out what you’re doing,_ they thought.

A snide little giggle broke Bell out of their reverie, and they looked up to see Abby smirking as if she’d won the bet already.

And Bell stopped thinking.

“Let the show begin!” Bell shouted suddenly in the silence that had settled over the cavern. Taking another deep breath, Bell broke from their starting position with a grandiose leap.

And Bell started dancing.

True to their word, Bell really did know the moves to their dance recital as well as their teacher and even better. Hopping and twirling through the motions, Bell not only delivered the dance moves they’d been instructed on tit for tat; but managed to weave their own original style into the somewhat elementary dance routine.

The other children were rapt by the performance, each one watching with equal parts amazement and dread. Each time Bell’s leg would swing wide over the open air of the chasm, the others would gasp. Each cloud of dust Bell kicked up with the swiping of their feet against the earthen floor sent their classmates staggering back a few steps. Some of the kids had covered their eyes, too nerve wracked to even watch Bell’s entire performance.

Abby and Blue were the only two who ended up managing to keep their eyes on bell the entire time. Abby watched her classmate teeter on the edge of impending doom with flounces and whirling movements, her draw jopping in shock at how fluid Bell was as they maneuvered the difficult terrain of Mt. Ebott. Blue kept his eyes glued on Bell out of sheer petrified concern; he watched his twin and only sibling dance along the cavern’s edge with the same inability to look away as someone witnessing a trainwreck.

Through it all, Bell avoided thinking about what exactly they were doing and just focused on one step to the next. If they could clear their mind enough, they could pretend they were practicing in their living room with Blue instead of at the entrance to an underground prison filled with monsters so dangerous they’d been sealed away with magic decades ago.

It was in this unthinking state that Bell had always fallen into their easiest stride with their dancing. Even though there was no music playing and their mother’s ballet slippers were too big on them, Bell grew more confident with each step they made. Finding that confidence, Bell was able to forget the fear they had felt before beginning and found the fun in their dancing once again. And in reclaiming the fun of their dancing talents, Bell found the routine flying by; until before long, they landed their last step.

Blinking their eyes a few times, Bell took a moment to process that they had actually made it through their entire recital without falling to their doom. Realizing this, they let out a strangled laugh and turned to beam at their gathered classmates.

The group of dance students stood in shocked silence for a moment as well, mouths agape as they took in the fact that Bell was still standing in front of them after performing their dance. Once the initial shock dissipated, the kids all burst into applause and cheered for their classmate’s decisive victory. Blue was pushing his hair off his forehead and smiling in disbelief, happy beyond measure that his twin’s hubris had been well-founded for once. Even Abby had lost all traces of smug disdain and cheered openly for Bell, overcome with an excitement that overrode any juvenile urge to be petty.

Bell let out an enormous sigh of relief, the tension leaving their body as their friends continued to cheer for them. Bending at the waist, Bell grasped either end of their tutu and, tucking one ankle behind the other, they made a curtsy for their adoring audience.

Coming up out of their bow, Bell untucked their ankles from one another and unknowingly tramped down on the end of one of the too-long ribbons dangling off their mother’s slippers. They moved to take a step towards the others and away from the chasm, and felt a sharp tug at the knot they’d tied around their ankle. Before they could figure out what had happened, Bell felt their center of balance shift on its axis and they were sent reeling backwards over the edge of the chasm.

Bell let out a scream so loud it split their eardrums as they felt the backs of their shins scrape against the craggy mouth of the chasm, just before they fell into the oozing darkness below. They could hear the others react to their sudden fall, screaming just as loud and scrambling to look over the edge in a frantic rush.

Bell grasped for anything that might slow their fall and felt their fingers graze against something rough they could get their fist around. They figured it was the length of the rope they’d seen tied to the boulder up above and gripped it all the more tightly, bringing their other hand to hold onto their only tether to safety as well. Bell could hear themself still screaming, definitely crying by now, but set their jaw in determination and began to hoist themself back up to the surface world.

“Bell!” Blue’s voice screamed frantically from above. “Bell, can you hear me!?”

“Blue, don’t leave!” Bell cried out, just as frantic. “I got hold of some old rope, I’m- I’m trying to climb back up, but I-”

“We’re gonna pull you up,” Abby’s voice called out. “Just hold on Bell, we’re gonna pull you up!”

Under any other circumstances, Bell would have bawled Abby out for interrupting them in the middle of a sentence; but under this particular circumstance, Bell was more than a little bit relieved that someone was taking the lead instead of them.

As the rope began to be pulled upwards, Bell kept climbing to the best of their ability. They braced their feet against the earthen wall, one step after another like they’d seen on television. But those people they’d watched on television were trained adults, tethered and safe from any real danger; Bell was ten years old with no training and in more danger than they had ever experienced before in, what they now realized to be, their very sheltered and very short life.

The faces of their classmates began to pull into view and Bell felt the bitter seed of dread dissolving from where it had settled in their stomach. They took a big step up, eager to get the hell out of dodge; but felt an unwelcome slip around their foot. With a sharp gasp, Bell looked down just in time to see the slipper that had come untied fall from their foot and plummet into the abyss.

Not thinking, Bell took one hand away from the rope to make a grab for the already lost slipper. In that motion, they lost the rhythm of their climb and slammed roughly into the side of the chasm.

“Bell, what in heck are you doing!?” Blue screamed in a ragged voice. He was so close Bell could almost reach out and take his outstretched palm.

“I lost one of Mom’s shoes,” Bell called up woefully. “She’s gonna be so mad.”

“Forget about that!” Blue shouted, and he was close enough now for Bell to see the tears streaking his face. “Mom would rather have you home and safe than those ratty old slippers any day!”

Bell nodded, heaving a deep sigh. “You’re right, Blue. You’re always r-”

_Snap!_

Silence broke over the children as they all looked towards the fateful noise that had come from the old tattered rope. Some of the twining had snapped lose, breaking under the weight of being pulled from both ends; and the kids watched in horror as that one weak link continued to rip apart.

“What the hell is everyone standing around for!?” Blue was the first to recover, leaning further down into the chasm so he could reach Bell faster and fixing the other kids with a ferocious warning glare. “Get hauling before that rope completely breaks!”

The other kids leapt to attention, heaving the fraying rope up as fast as their tiny arms could manage. Bell tried to regain their climbing rhythm, but found it only hastened the rope’s ripping when there was tugging from both ends. Their gaze flitted between the rope and their brother’s outstretched arm, and they wondered which would win out in the end.

There was a brief flickering moment of hope, where all of their classmates were screaming for them to take Blue’s hand and Bell could reach out and graze their twin’s fingertips, when they thought they might actually make it out of their self-made predicament. But as Bell and Blue could finally reach each other, another snap pierced through the air and the old tattered rope broke in two.

Blue screamed for Bell as their fingers slipped from his, and the last thing Bell saw before slipping into complete darkness was their classmates pulling Blue away from the chasm’s edge when he tried to stand and jump down after them. 

* * *

In the aftermath of it all, the actual falling hadn’t been so bad. A quick rush of wind past your ears in a devouring black void and then back into the light. It was the landing and everything that came afterward that was the worst part of it for Bell.

They’d landed one foot on the ground and then slammed flat on their back into a bed of golden flowers, hitting their head against the mounded dirt beneath them. There was still an end of tattered rope clutched in their hand, growing hot in the vice-like grip Bell couldn’t have loosened if they wanted to. They were vaguely aware of something distinctly ballet slipper shaped digging into their back, but were in too much a state of shock to do anything about it right then.

Staring up into the black expanse stretching out above them that they’d just fallen through, the gravity of what had just happened began to crush around Bell. It started with them blinking their eyes rapidly, jolting their head out of its dazed state. Once they were able to think clearly again, Bell felt their breath picking up as panic settled deep and staunch in the center of their chest.

Squeezing their eyes shut tight, Bell brought their hands to their face and started crying. Sobs wracked their already sore body and breathing became an arduous chore as snot clogged their nostrils. Their cries echoed off the stone walls of the space they’d fallen into and Bell realized all at once that they were completely and utterly alone.

Solitude was something that, with a twin, they’d never had to worry about in any serious capacity before. The terror of not having anyone in the world who could help them cut at their insides like a sharpened wire, and Bell felt exposed and vulnerable.

“Howdy!”

Bell jolted up into a sitting position, propelled by the shock of hearing someone else’s voice. They looked from side to side, searching for the person who had spoken to them, but they found nothing around but a bunch of yellow flowers.

“Over here. Hee hee!” the voice giggled.

Bell stopped their erratic movements and looked slowly towards the direction the voice had come from. There, sitting in the center of the stone path that led to the only realistically accessible exit from where they had fallen, was a golden flower smiling over at Bell.

Bell stared at the flower in disbelief, wondering just how hard they’d hit their head to be hallucinating this kind of crap. “What the fu-”

“You seem confused! You must be new to the underground, huh?” the flower piped up. Bell nodded, still too stunned to hold a conversation with a plant. “Maybe I could help you out. Let’s start with names! I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!”

“I- I need-” Bell stammered, pointing upwards with a shaking hand but keeping their gaze glued on Flowey.

“You know, it’s kind of rude not to tell someone your name when they tell you theirs,” Flowey interrupted, the smile on his face turning a shade more sinister.

Bell wrinkled their brow, a sudden wave of dread washing over them as Flowey sneered at them. Never before had they felt more threatened by anyone, let alone a golden flower. They had recognized the plant immediately, it grew like a weed all over their town.

 _Pretty, but insidious._ Bell remembered the words of their mother as she’d given the plants a good-natured scolding while ripping them up out of her garden back at their house. If they really were dealing with a monstrous version of those flowers, Bell decided, it was better to stay on the wary side.

Taking a shaky breath, Bell began to push themself up into a standing position. “Uh, look, I-” they broke off with a sharp gasp as their one leg exploded with a burning pain as they put pressure on it. Bell collapsed back into a sitting position and grasped at their leg, the one without a ballet slipper, to see what was wrong with it.

Bell felt the blood rush from their head as they took in the sight of their leg, making them dizzy. The limb was bent at an odd curve in the middle of their shin and was swollen to an unnaturally bloated state. Despite their daredevil tendencies, Bell had miraculously managed to never have broken a bone. Now, there was no getting around it: Their leg was broken, and their luck had run out.

“Aww, did you break your leg? That’s too bad,” Flowey’s voice sounded how cough medicine tastes, coated with artificial sweetness that didn’t quite cover the underlying bitterness. “Why don’t you let me help you out?”

Recoiling from the offer, Bell hunched their shoulders around their face in a feeble attempt at feeling more protected and shook their head resolutely. “No, I’m good.”

“Come on, don’t be a wuss!” Flowey taunted, popping down into the ground and reappearing amidst the other golden flowers that Bell was sitting on. As Flowey’s smile tightened back even further, white spinning bullets materialized around the two. “These are little white…’friendliness pellets’...They’ll heal you right up.”

“Yeah, no, this is a load of crap,” Bell objected, forcing themself up onto their feet despite the white hot pain that shot through their broken leg at the movement. “Just keep your ‘friendliness pellets’ to yourself, pal. I may have one broken leg but I’ll still kick you into a different timezone.”

Flowey only laughed in response, bringing the bullets in around Bell and slamming them through the child’s body.

“There are no timezones down here, you IDIOT,” Flowey sneered. “Welcome to The Underground.”

Bell staggered on their feet, determined not to let this flower knock them down. Gritting their teeth, Bell worked up a mouthful of blood and spat it directly in Flowey’s petalled face.

“Fuck you,” they seethed, a rush of adrenaline coursing through them as the curse word left their mouth. Bell was never one to mince words, but ten-year-olds were rarely in a position where there were no parents around to scold them for swearing.  

Flowey made a face filled with pure disgust. “You humans are so goddamn revolting!” he shrieked before conjuring another round of magic bullets and sending them hurtling towards Bell. “ ** _DIE!_ ** ”

But before the bullets could land on Bell’s battered skin, a ball of fire shot out of the ether and slammed directly into Flowey’s smirking face, knocking him out of sight. Bell jumped and looked to where the attack had come from.

A tall, hulking figure was walking towards them and as the figure drew closer, Bell could begin to make out their appearance. White fur caught on the dim lighting and Bell felt terror close around their heart as a set of fangs and a pair of horns came into focus.

The monster approaching them raised a hand out for Bell and the child recoiled, stumbling clumsily backward and gasping as they put too much pressure on their broken leg. They opened their mouth to scream, but nothing came out; they couldn’t even breathe they were so terrified. Every instinct they had was telling them to fight back against this monster or to run away or to do something; but between their broken leg and multiple bleeding bullet wounds, Bell just couldn’t muster up the energy to even think of fighting back anymore.

So instead, they went for the only other logical solution to their current predicament and promptly lost conscious, collapsing in a bloody heap onto the golden flowers beneath them.

* * *

Bell woke up before their eyes were even open. They couldn’t remember falling asleep, but were so cozy and warm under their covers that it hardly mattered to them when they’d made it to bed. There was a vague ache in their leg and could feel tight bandages and a splint around it, but they couldn’t remember the reason behind any of it. Turning over onto their side, Bell pressed their face into the stack of pillows underneath their head with every intention of going right back to sleep.

But as they rolled over, Bell was confused that their hand didn’t flop over the edge of their twin-sized bed and hang in the open air. Instead, their hand only hit more mattress and another stack of pillows. At last, Bell blinked their eyes open to confirm that they were in fact in a queen-sized bed that did not belong to them. That was all the more they could make out, as the space around them was pitch black.

“What the-” Bell sat up in confusion and realized for the first time that they weren’t in their own clothes. They felt around their body and found that they’d been put in an oversized button down shirt. It was like the kind their Dad wore to work only ten times the size of him, smelling like mothballs and butterscotch.

Throwing the covers back, Bell swung their legs down to the floor and went to find a light to turn on. As soon as they stood up, however, Bell’s right leg screamed in protest and they sat back down with a cry of pain. When had they broken their leg?

Bell shook their head at themself. “Dummy, you broke it when you fell down Mt. Ebott-”

Breaking off with a choked gasp, Bell went stockstill as memories of that morning’s events flooded into their head all at once.

Standing up again, this time only on their good leg, Bell hopped around the dark space and groped blindly for anything that might tell them something about where they were. Feeling around in the dark, Bell eventually found the sharp edge of a desk as it jabbed them in the side. Gripping onto the table’s edge, Bell patted around the surface until they felt the base of a lamp. Finding the lamp’s chord next, Bell gave it a firm tug and set the room awash with warm yellow light.

It was a tidy little room, with a bookcase up against one wall and a cactus in the corner. An open book on the desk caught Bell’s eye, and they leaned over to take a peek at what it was about. The handwriting and dated pages tipped Bell off to the fact that this was someone’s diary they were snooping through, and they quickly averted their gaze.

Catching sight of the only door in the room, Bell turned and hopped their way over. Fumbling with one hand on the doorknob and one braced against the wall for support, Bell opened the door a crack and peered out into the empty hallway outside.

There was a warm, sweet smell wafting down towards them that drew them further and further out of the room until they were hobbling their way down the hall. As they followed their nose to the source of the aroma, the sound of voices arose from the silence. Bell couldn’t decipher what was being said, but recognized a couple of kids’ voices in the mix. This made Bell feel a little safer in their current situation, if all else failed Bell knew that other kids would have their back when it came down to the nitty gritty.

Slowly but surely, Bell made it all the way down the hall and into what they figured was the common room of the house. There was a dining table with a vase of dried flowers in the middle and few mismatched chairs surrounding it. A fireplace was crackling against one wall with a plush armchair drawn up to the hearth. The sight of a burning fireplace in the middle of summer struck Bell as odd, but they couldn’t deny that the warmth the flames were producing was much needed.

The source of the voices were still out of sight, but now the words were decipherable from the radio chatter they had been before. Hopping their way to the dining table’s edge, Bell gripped on and gave a hard lean as they peered into the only other visible doorway in the room. Through the doorway, they spied a smallish kitchen where three figures bustled around.

Two of the figures were human children who stood with their backs to Bell. The one had unruly brown hair kept at bay only by the red bandana around their forehead. The other had orange hair that was tied back with a faded red ribbon that reminded Bell with a pang of guilt that they were no longer wearing their mother’s ballet slippers. As for the third figure…

Bell felt their blood run cold at the sight of the third figure. It was the same monster who’d approached them after their battle with Flowey. Their heart rate climbed as they remembered being so afraid they’d fainted, and Bell was confused as to why the other two children seemed so relaxed in this monster’s presence.

In that moment where they were still going unnoticed by the odd trio in the kitchen, Bell thought of making their escape without another word. But if this monster truly was out to harm them, who was to say she wouldn’t harm those other kids as well? As scared as they were, Bell was no coward and they would never abandon someone who needed their help.

Reaching back onto the table, Bell gripped one hand around the vase of dried flowers and took a steadying breath that did absolutely nothing to settle their nerves.

“Uh, hey...” Bell spoke up, and was embarrassed by how meek their voice sounded to their own ears. Clearing their throat, they silently thanked whoever was listening to them that the other three hadn’t heard their mousy announcement and tried again.

“HEY!” Bell shouted, picking up the vase with one hand and slamming it back down onto the table with a loud _thud_.

All three figures in the kitchen fell silent at Bell’s loud demand for attention. The child with orange hair jumped at least a foot in the air at the sudden loud noise, while the child with the bandana immediately whirled around and dropped into a fighting position. It was the monster with the purple robe who remained calm and turned to face Bell with an understanding smile.

“Ah, you are awake,” the monster spoke, walking out of the kitchen and moving towards Bell. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins, and these-”

“Don’t give me that!” Bell shouted, voice just on the frantic edge of hysterical. “I remember you from before, you tried to kill me!”

“She really didn’t,” the kid with the orange hair popped out from one side of Toriel, waving their hands at Bell as if trying to slow down a speeding car. 

“Yeah, she rescued you,” the kid with the bandana popped out from the other side of Toriel, hands on their hips as they gave Bell a skeptical look. “Hey, have we met before? You seem kinda familiar.”

“Uhm, not to my knowledge!” Bell gave a disbelieving laugh. How could this kid be asking them about the potential of their casual acquaintance at a time like this?

“What’s your name?” the kid pressed.

“What’s _yours_?” Bell demanded.

“Alex,” the other kid answered with a shrug.

“Well, Alex, I’m Bell and I swear if you don’t back off right now I will shove your head in that fireplace!”

“Ohoho!” Alex laughed. “Is that a threat?”

Bell jabbed a warning finger in Alex’s direction. “That’s a bonafide guarantee!”

“Listen, dear,” Toriel spoke up, moving a step closer to Bell but freezing when they noticed the young child flinch away from her. “You have had a rough day,” she continued in a low, soothing voice. “Why don’t you sit down for a moment? You are in no condition to stand on your own right now.”

“I’m holding up just fine, no thanks to you,” Bell spat.

“Actually, it’s kind of all thanks to her that you’re still alive,” Alex said. “If it weren’t for her healing magic, you’d be stone dead right now from all those bullet wounds.”

“Bullet wounds?” Bell blinked in confusion before remembering Flowey’s ‘friendliness pellets’ attack. Furrowing their brow at the thought of anyone magically healing anything, Bell shook their head and turned an accusatory glare up at Toriel. “If you have healing magic, why didn’t you fix my leg too?”

“Because her healing magic only heals damage from magic-based attacks,” the orange-haired kid piped up.

“That is partially correct,” Toriel nodded. “My healing magic only works to a certain extent with natural injuries, as there is no magic effect to undo in the healing process. Your leg will take some time to heal, but do not worry. I am trained in practical medicine as well as healing magic.”

“Why not just take me to a hospital?” Bell asked.

“There are none,” Toriel replied.

“No hospitals?” Bell’s eyes widened a bit at that, but they shook the petty concern out of their head. “Okay, you know what? Screw this, actually. I’m out of here. It’s been lovely meeting you all, but I’ve gotta get home.”

“There’s no way out of here,” Alex scoffed.

“Sure there is,” Bell said, calling on the history of Mt. Ebott that was taught almost religiously in their hometown’s schools. “That barrier thing, right? I’ll go through that.”

“Keyword: barrier,” Alex emphasized. “No one can get through that thing.”

Bell blew a frustrated huff of air out through their nostrils. “Then I’ll just-”

“What? Climb back up the chasm?” Alex asked before Bell could finish their sentence, chuckling as if it were the best joke they’d heard in a century.

Bell’s grip tightened on the flower vase as they fought back the urge to chuck it at this kid’s head.

“Alex, that’s enough,” the other kid chided their sibling and turned towards Bell with an apologetic look on their face. “I’m sorry, there really is no way out of here.”

“No way out of…” Bell felt their heart begin to plummet into the depths of despair, but they stopped it in its tracks and forced it back up into their chest where it belonged. “No,” Bell shook their head resolutely, and they could feel tears springing in their eyes as they spoke. “No. Me staying down here is not happening.”

“My child, I am very sorry but they are telling you the truth,” Toriel spoke at last, kneeling down so she was eye-level with Bell. “There is no way for you to leave. This is your home now.”

“But I can’t stay here!” Bell protested, sobs rising in their throat.

“There, there,” Toriel reached out to pat Bell’s shoulder. “It will be alright, my child.”

“Do _not_ call me your child,” Bell smacked Toriel’s hand away before she could touch them. “Because, lady, I already have a mother and you aren’t her.” 

Toriel took a deep breath and leaned back on her haunches. “Bell, I am very sorry that this has happened to you. Would I could change the way things are for you, but I cannot. The fact of the matter is, you are safest here with me and the other humans who have fallen down before you.”

“This is such crap! There has to be a way out of here. This is a prison for monsters, not humans,” Bell looked at the other children then. “Have either of you two tried to cross the barrier?”

“No, because you can’t cross it,” Alex said.

“How do you know if you don’t try?” Bell challenged.

“Bell, it’s not really a simple matter of walking up to the barrier and giving going through a whirl,” the orange-haired kid spoke up. “The monsters out in the rest of the underground will try to kill you if they know a human’s fallen down here.”

“Robin is right,” Toriel said, naming the other child at last. “If you leave, you will be killed.”

“And if I stay I die down here anyways!” Bell exclaimed. “What kind of trap is this!? You’re really not gonna let me leave?”

“No,” Toriel shook her head resolutely. “Not when your life is in danger if you do, and certainly not with a broken leg.”

“You can’t keep me locked up here,” Bell pulled their upper lip back into a partial snarl.

“She’s just trying to keep you safe,” Robin said softly.

“Didn’t you _know_ the dangers of climbing Mt. Ebott?” Alex asked, looking slightly exasperated.

“Of course I did,” Bell said through gritted teeth, one eye twitching in annoyance.

Alex rolled their eyes and gave Bell a condescending smirk. “Then, why did you climb the mountain in the first place if you weren’t prepared to get stuck down here?”

“NONE OF YOUR _BUSINESS_!” Bell punctuated their screaming by jerking their arm forward and hurtling the vase still clutched in their hand in Alex’s direction.

The vase didn’t hit Alex, instead sailing right past the older kid’s ear as they dodged out of the way. It collided with the wall and shattered to pieces, shards of ceramic and the shredded remains of dried flowers showering the room. Alex’s face flared red and they took a breath to scream right back, but froze when they saw Bell crumple to the floor with a miserable whine.

Bell sank down to the floor, partially under the dining room table, and drew the knee on their uninjured leg up to their chest. Their bravado had finally cracked under the tension of the situation, and Bell had become too overwhelmed by their own despair to try and argue with these obstinate strangers anymore. Burying their face against their knee, Bell finally let themself cry.

Toriel tried to reach for the sobbing child, to try and comfort them; but as soon as Bell felt Toriel’s large paws touch them, they unfurled from in on themself and struck out with their good leg to ward off the monster’s approach.

“Both of you, out! Now!” Robin ordered, their voice the loudest Bell had heard it since they’d met. They spoke with so much authority, Bell could hardly believe it was the same person who’d jumped when they’d first announced themself.

What stunned Bell more than the volume Robin was speaking at, was that the other two actually listened to them. As soon as Robin had told them to leave, Toriel and Alex both hurried to shuffle their way out of the room, leaving Robin alone with Bell.

When Robin turned and looked at them, Bell felt their protective walls break down even more. Squeezing their eyes shut, Bell buried their face in their hands and started wailing louder than they even knew they could. Robin sighed sympathetically and came over to kneel by Bell’s side.

“Bell?” they asked, their voice low and soft once more. Bell tried to take a deep breath and reply, but all that came out were louder sobs. “Is it okay if I hug you?”

Bell looked up from their hands and, since they didn’t trust themself to speak, lurched forward and wrapped their arms around Robin’s waist themself, sobbing into the front of the older child’s striped shirt. Robin wound their arms around Bell, one hand patting their hair while the other rubbed soothing circles into Bell’s back.

“I’m sorry this happened, Bell,” Robin said, and Bell actually believed them. “Did someone force you to climb the mountain?”

“No,” Bell managed, taking a ragged breath as they buried their face further into Robin’s chest. “And that’s the worst part. I did it to myself.”

“You…” Robin furrowed their brow. “Why? You obviously don’t want to be down here and you want to get back to your life on the surface, why would you do that?”

“Because I’m stupid!” Bell sobbed, their fingers digging into the back of Robin’s shirt. “I made a bet to dance along the chasm’s edge and that’s why I fell down. Blue was right, I should have just backed out.”

“Who’s Bl-”

“I don’t want to talk about him!” Bell cried even harder at the thought of their twin, knowing how much he was panicking right then, too. “I just- God, I really screwed up.”

Robin held them tighter and made a shushing noise, trying to get Bell’s breathing to settle. “It’s going to be alright, Bell,” they said. “You’re safe here. I know you don’t want to stay, but you’ll see that it’s really not as bad as you’re dreading. And if time goes by and you still want to try for the barrier, you can go. Mom wouldn’t keep you trapped in the Ruins, not really. But you can’t leave on a broken leg, okay? It’s dangerous enough out there when you’re not injured.”

Bell didn’t know how to reply so they didn’t, instead just leaning all of their weight into Robin and continuing to cry. And Robin didn’t try and get them to agree to anything or press them for conversation, they just held onto Bell and let them cry until their tears ran out. After that, Robin still just held onto them, letting Bell know without saying a word that they weren’t alone. 

* * *

A couple of months later, Bell stood tall on two unbroken legs or, well, as tall as they possibly could. Bell was a very short child, even for a ten-year-old. Their broken leg had taken longer than it should have to heal, mostly because Bell refused to keep off of it; but with Toriel’s care and a certain amount of Alex taking it upon themself to sit on top of Bell so they couldn’t get up, Bell’s leg had eventually made a full recovery.

Now that they could walk on their own two feet again, Bell was ready to try and leave the Ruins and make for the barrier on the other end of the mountain. But before they left, there was something important that Bell had to take care of.

In their hands, they held one red ballet slipper. When they’d asked Toriel about the fate of their other slipper, the goat monster had said Bell was only wearing one when they fainted. Toriel and the other two children had offered to go and look for it, but Bell insisted that they had to be the one to go and retrieve it once they could walk on their own again. Because it was their mother’s, and they didn’t want these other people to be a part of their story any more than they absolutely had to be.

Dangling their slipper between their fingers by the ribbons, Bell left their shared bedroom and headed down the hallway towards the front entrance. They passed Alex on their way, and the two automatically exchanged taunting faces at each other. The two of them had never quite made up after the whole vase-throwing incident, but they’d managed over the weeks to restrict their arguments to silent warfare to avoid getting scolded when they could.

Coming into the main entryway, Bell made a beeline for the exit out into the rest of the Ruins. But just as they were about to set foot outside, they heard a voice behind them call their name.

“Bell,” Toriel stepped out of the common room with Robin at her heels. “Where are you going, my ch- Erm. Where are you going?”

“Out to get my other slipper,” they brandished the slipper in their hand as a reminder. “You said I could go get it myself once my leg was better.”

“Oh, yes, I suppose I did,” Toriel blushed. “Very well, then, give me a moment. I will go with you.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Bell held up a hand to halt Toriel in her tracks. “The Ruins aren’t that big, I think I can manage on my own.”

Toriel twiddled her thumbs nervously. “I would feel much better if I were to go with you. The Ruins may be small, but they can still be dangerous for a child.”

“My mom lets me walk everywhere by myself back at home,” Bell said, leaving out the part where Blue was usually with them wherever they went.

“Is that how you ended up falling down a mountain?” Alex, who had peered around the corner to eavesdrop, called out.

Bell gave Alex a look that would curdle milk and peel paint off the walls, biting their tongue to keep from cursing the older kid out. Instead, they turned their attention back to Toriel.

“Look, I can go on a walk without someone holding my hand,” Bell said, crossing their arms and giving an impatient sigh.

“We know, Bell,” Robin said. “She’s just trying to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, I know,” Bell rolled their eyes. “I wish she wouldn’t.”

“No, you don’t,” Alex said.

“Yes, I do!” Bell whipped around on them, squaring up their shoulders as if ready to brawl.

“Enough,” Toriel said calmly, patting the air between Alex and Bell. “You are right, Bell. You are very capable of taking a walk by yourself, I am just worrying too much as usual. If you wish to go by yourself, none of us will follow you. Just make sure you have the cell phone I gave you, in case an emergency arises.”

“Got it!” Bell said, digging their cell phone out of their pocket for Toriel to see as they turned for the exit. “But nothing’s going to happen. Nothing _ever_ happens!”

And with that, Bell was storming away across the courtyard. They past the old black husk of a tree that grew in the center of the yard, and paused out of habit to count its three entire leaves that had managed to remain on the branches.

 _One, two, three, four..._ Bell counted, then continued on their way. A few steps further Bell stopped and thought that number over in their head.

“Four!?” they whispered to themself, turning back around to recount the tree’s leaves. Sure enough, they hadn’t miscounted and there were in fact four red leaves hanging off the spindly branches of the tree.

That gave them pause for a moment, but the sight quickly lost its novelty and Bell turned on their heel and continued on their way.

Passing through the Ruins, Bell found their way too easily to get any real enjoyment out of their walk. As their leg had gotten better, they’d gone on short walks to strengthen their muscles with the rest of their...family? _No, definitely not that._ Bell shook the thought from their head. Anyways, they knew their way around the Ruins pretty well by now; and even if they didn’t, it was pretty much a straight shot through the main part of it, so it was almost impossible to get lost.

The long halls passed by in a purple blur, the puzzles were solved without an ounce of puzzling, and the monsters who did attack were easily won over with a friendly word. Altogether, the Ruins reminded Bell of a fantasy computer game designed for a four-year-old; fun for when you’re little and easily amused, not so much for when you’re old enough to get bored with rigged puzzles and polite small talk.

At last, Bell made their final turn into the long dark pass they hadn’t been in since they’d fallen down. Stepping into the passageway, the space looked completely the same as it had before, all gray and austere. A part of them was worried that Flowey would pop back up at any given moment, but a bigger part of them didn’t actually care one way or the other. They just wanted to get their other ballet slipper and then turn right back around and leave the Ruins so they could get home at last.

While they were preoccupied with the thought of reunited their ballet slippers, something underfoot interrupted Bell’s stride. Lifting up their bare foot, Bell looked down to find something odd and out of place. Bending over, Bell snatched the culprit from the ground and wrinkled their nose in confusion.

It was a bright red pocket-sized notebook with warped, water-damaged pages and splotches of ink all over the cover. They didn’t look inside, because it wasn’t their business to snoop through other people’s personal belongings; but that was just the thing. If this was someone else’s notebook, where was the owner?

“Who do you belong to?” Bell wondered, looking down the passageway. Giving a sharp gasp, Bell let the notebook drop from their fingers and clatter to the ground.

Bell wanted to go home more than anything, and nothing was going to stop them. That was a fact. But right then, they put their own wants on hold and rushed forward without a second thought for Blue or their missing slipper or stupid bets that wouldn’t matter when you fell down a hole and were never seen again. Bell put all of those concerns behind them, because right then something bigger than all of that had happened and taken precedence.

Right then, there was a child in front of them Bell had never seen before, lying unconscious in a bed of golden flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When will she post the continuation to this nail-biting cliffhanger? The world may never know...
> 
> 4real tho I hope the next chapter is done much sooner than this one was


	4. Perseverance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The purple soul - Laurel!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO remember when I said I hoped this chapter wouldn't take as long to post as the last one did?? Yah, me too. Anyways, here's to my nine wonderful subscribers and your long-awaited update!! Hoo nelly, this is a long one. Enjoy!

People always say that taking the first step is the hardest part of any daunting journey. But for eight-year-old Laurel Lockwood, first steps never gave them any trouble. For them, the hardest step was always the one that awaited them after the one they had just taken. The journey never got any easier. There was always one more step to take, one more burden to bear, one more loss to cut.

Sometimes the magnitude of how much more of their life was stretching out in front of them seemed interminable to Laurel, and they felt trapped on a trajectory of constant mayhem in no particular direction at all. Things hadn’t always felt so bleak, but when your outlook changes to a permanent state of gray it can be hard to remember what color used to look like. That was Laurel’s life. A mass of colors fading to monochrome shades on a rumpled canvas.

Whenever adults compliment children on how intelligent they are, they mean it to encourage that child to keep learning and to grow even smarter. Of course, they never consider how a child may misconstrue that in a negative way. Laurel was smart and growing smarter every day, but with that came a strong sense of needing to figure things out on their own. In order to be smart, they thought, they couldn’t let anyone know they were stumped by a question. So, they never asked for help. Even when they needed it. Even when they really, _really_ needed it.

But the main crux of the problem didn’t lay on the shoulders of an eight-year-old. For, as nice as it would be to have people always tell us exactly what they needed apropos of nothing, the fact of the matter is most of us are waiting to be asked. And that was the problem for Laurel, even if they didn’t know it. No one was offering to help them.

The proof of that statement wasn’t hidden solely in the depths of this traumatized child’s heart either, it could be seen by anyone who bothered to look.

It could be seen in the clouded lenses of their glasses. Damaged by hard water and nearly impossible to see through anymore after being fished from the bottom of a lake by police, but that Laurel insisted on using instead of the replacement pair they’d been given.

It could be seen in the red notebook they always carried in their pocket. Pages warped from being blown dry with a hairdryer at their aunt’s house after they had dragged the sopping mess of paper and ink with them out of their parents’ flooded car.

It could be seen in the baggy purple sweater they wore at all times, even in the late summer heat. Sleeves that were too long for them that had been just right for their father and with patched up elbows they’d helped their mother mend served as reminders of a life that no longer felt like their own.

It could be seen in the slivers of cuts up their wrists. A topic that had gone untouched by so many of the adults in their life in the hopes the lack of attention would make the problem disappear. But that didn’t work. That never works.

All of these sights were more than enough reason for any adult to have reached out and tried to help a child who was clearly suffering.

But nobody came.

And since no one had offered to help them, Laurel took it to mean they were supposed to figure this problem out on their own. They were tired of living in a world that they felt they didn’t even have a place in, and wanted to escape and never return. So, being an intelligent kid, they researched to find a way out and discovered the stories of Mt. Ebott; a mountain from which no one who has ever returned from climbing.  

Digging through archives at the public library and foraging the internet, Laurel found legend after legend of the mountain which served as a prison for monsters from a long ago war. What astounded Laurel was that this war actually had happened and the monsters involved in it were real. It was a topic they had never been taught about, and as a result they had assumed monsters were only make-believe.

In their research, they also found articles detailing children who had gone missing and were suspected to have climbed the mountain. Not one of them had ever been found. Disappearing forever with no chance of being hunted down and dragged back into a miserable existence was exactly what Laurel was looking for. So, they gathered up all of their money and bought themself a bus ticket for their eighth birthday. No one had even noticed them leave their aunt’s house. No one had stopped and wondered what an eight-year-old was doing travelling alone. No one seemed to care.

The bus dropped them off in the square of the town that lay at the mountain’s base. The town was small and older-looking, like something out of a storybook where courageous young children overcame the everyday battles of growing up. Taking down a quick sketch of the town square, Laurel gathered themself and headed for the mountain peak that was nestled amongst the town’s skyline.

As Laurel strode the bustling sidewalks with their eyes glued to their feet, they noticed little golden flowers peeking out of cracks in the concrete. With their eyes on the ground, however, Laurel couldn’t see what was coming right at them. Only when they heard the excited yip of a dog barking did Laurel look up, and by then it was too late.

A little terrier dog barrelled past them, knocking into Laurel’s shins and nearly toppling them over. They were in the process of regaining their balance when another blunt force, this time in the form of a six-year-old child, bowled them down. Laurel fell to the sidewalk, their long blonde hair flooding their vision as it was knocked into their face.

“So sorry!!” the younger child’s voice called out, getting farther and farther away as they continued to run down the sidewalk. “I have to catch my dog!”

Pushing a mountain of hair out of their eyes with a frustrated huff, Laurel was about to open their mouth to reply, but another voice cut them off.

“Hepzibah Cohen! You get back here at once and apologize!” an adult woman with long dark wavy hair called out as she chased after the other child, stopping only once she had reached Laurel’s side. Crouching down, the woman helped Laurel to their feet and brushed them off. “Are you alright, sweetheart?” she asked, checking Laurel over for any injuries. “I’m sorry my child knocked you over, they can be a little rambunctious.”

“I’m fine,” Laurel insisted, a little bewildered by the entire fiasco that had just taken place. They looked up at the elegant woman, clad in a long black skirt and a formal cream-colored blouse, and saw the concerned eyes of a mother gazing down at them.

“Are you sure?” the lady asked, her pearl drop earrings bobbing as she tilted her head in doubt at Laurel’s declaration. “You look a bit shaken up. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No,” Laurel answered a little too quickly, and mentally scolded themself as the woman’s expression showed that she was staunchly unconvinced.

The woman opened her mouth as if she was going to say something more, but just then there came the sound of car horns honking and pedestrians shouting from down the street where her child had run after their dog.

“For goodness’ sake, Hop...” the woman muttered under her breath, shaking her head as she looked in the direction her child had gone. She gave Laurel a stern look as she turned to leave, pointing one perfectly manicured finger at them. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Laurel watched the woman take off after her child, running in heels at an impressive speed, the scent of her perfume lingering in the air. For a moment, Laurel considered waiting for the woman to come back and let her help them. But the moment quickly passed as they decided nobody in the world could help them but themself. Once the woman was out of eyeshot, they turned and ran in the other direction.

* * *

The climb up the mountain had been unremarkable to Laurel, who had long since stopped admiring the beauty in a world that they felt they had no place in. All they registered about the climb was that it had been long and hot and dusty, making them sweaty and disgruntled as they finally reached the infamous entrance to the underground on Mt. Ebott.

Squeezing their way through the narrow opening in the mountain’s face, Laurel stumbled into a wide open cavern. Combining the dim lighting with the clouded lenses of their glasses, Laurel could hardly see in front of them. With their notebook brandished in one hand, they toed their way forward with caution, feeling for the edge of the pit that other human children had fallen down before them. But even with their tentative footing, Laurel was no match for unexpected bumps in the terrain. Their foot caught against a stray boulder, knocking them off their balance and plunging them blindly forward.

Laurel crashed roughly to the ground from the waist up, but their torso continued to fall forward into the open air. They bent suddenly at a right angle, their forehead smacking against a rocky wall and their elbow jamming into a sharp edge. The impact of the hit caused their grip to open, and Laurel felt their notebook slip from their fingers. Picking their head up and tossing their hair out of the way, Laurel focused their vision enough just to catch a glimpse of a bright red cover slip into the darkness of a looming abyss.

 _I think I found the entrance to the underground._ Laurel thought to themself, carefully standing up at the edge of the great precipice they’d discovered.

Closing their eyes, Laurel took a deep breath and thought about just what they were expecting to happen when they fell down. Would they feel relieved? Would they feel regret? Would they feel anything at all?

And then their eyes popped open. Wondering about what would happen didn’t do them any good. When you don’t want your past and don’t care about your future, wondering what will become of either is pointless. Taking a deep breath, Laurel turned around and stood with their heels to the edge of the drop. They spread their arms wide, tipped their balance backward, and let themself fall.

In the drop, Laurel found peace. For the first time in a long time, the motion of their body felt in accord with the turmoil of their thoughts. People were always pressuring them to make decisions and to choose directions and stick on paths, when Laurel never felt any sense of direction at any juncture of their life anymore. Falling in a black pit, with no idea where they were going or when they would arrive or what would happen when they got there felt more accurate to Laurel’s experience with life than anything else had in a long time. A part of them wished the fall would never end, and that they would remain in the state between action and consequence forever. But whatever goes up must come down. And everything that falls must land. And when Laurel landed, they crashed hard into their consequences.

And the whole world went black.

And Laurel barely noticed a difference.

* * *

The next thing Laurel was conscious of was a voice they’d never heard before yelling at them. Whoever it was sounded frantic, their words high and pleading as if Laurel listening to them was the most important thing that could ever happen.

“-you okay?” Laurel caught the tail end of their question, whoever they were. “Tell me one thing to let me know you’re still alive!”

As Laurel began to come back more fully to consciousness, they realized that they were being shaken by whoever was yelling at them. They also realized that they were sore all over and that being shaken _hurt_. They couldn’t yet open their eyes, but they did their best to muster up their energy into speaking a single command. But when they spoke, it came out in a jumbled croak so incoherent that even they couldn’t decipher what they’d said.

“What was that?” the person shaking them asked in a breathless voice.

Laurel took a ragged breath, their chest aching with the effort, and tried again. “I said: ‘Stop shaking me!’”

The shaking stopped instantaneously, the person murmuring an apology. Laurel slit one eye open, and caught a blurry glimpse of a concerned face above them. They looked to be about Laurel’s age, with brown skin and a fluffy cloud of hair blooming around their head like petals on a flower.

“I’m gonna call someone, hold on!” the person waved a hand at Laurel, as if it was supposed to be some great comfort, and then stood up and dug a small rectangular object out of the enormous pink tutu they were wearing. As they pressed the object to their ear, Laurel figured that the small handheld device must have been a cell phone. That was the last thought they had before falling unconscious again.

* * *

When Laurel came to again, someone was speaking to them. But no, that wasn’t quite right. There was someone speaking, but they weren’t asking questions or even talking about anything Laurel knew of. Their voice was soft and even, unexpectant of any response from Laurel as they lay with their eyes still closed. Laurel wondered what could be going on when they heard the rustle of a book page, and then they figured it out. Someone was reading aloud to them.

Laurel turned their head towards the voice and tried to open their eyes. It was hard, their eyelids were heavy and crusted over, but they managed to open them enough to glimpse at whoever was reading to them. They were seated in a rocking chair to the left of where Laurel was laid out. Laurel didn’t have their glasses on but they could make out a shock of long orange hair with something red, maybe a ribbon, woven through it. Whoever they were, they hadn’t seemed to realize that Laurel was awake and just kept reading from the book held open in their hands. Since Laurel wasn’t in any special hurry to get up, they laid back and listened to the soothing voice read out from the page.

“‘-gone without even a word?’” The person read out. “‘Anna could never forgive her for that. And she would never trust anyone again. The hurt inside her hardened. She pushed away the tray and lay down again. Then, turning her face to the wall, she closed her mind to-’ Oh!”

The person in the rocking chair stopped reading, having noticed at last that Laurel was awake and watching them. Laurel wished they had kept reading; they weren’t in a mood to be spoken to. But whoever this was seemed so gentle that Laurel could hope they wouldn’t push them too hard for conversation.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were awake,” they apologized, getting up from their seat and setting the book face down on the arm of the chair. Crossing the short distance, the mystery person sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at Laurel. “How are you feeling?”

Laurel closed their eyes and groaned, taking full stock of their body for the first time since waking up. They had a headache that hammered at their brain as though it was trying to burrow out of their skull. All over Laurel could feel the dull pain of bandaged cuts and swollen bruises, each muscle throbbing as soon as they so much as stirred a finger. What was more, Laurel was entirely too aware of the fact that they weren’t in their own clothes anymore; and they didn’t have their notebook or their glasses, which made them very nervous.

“Where are my glasses?” Laurel, instead of answering the one they’d been asked, offered a new question to the kind stranger who was hovering over them.

“Oh, hold on, I’ve got them!” the person said, reaching into their pocket and brandishing Laurel’s glasses. “They got a bit dinged on the fall down, I’m afraid, but there’s really only a small crack in one of the lenses to worry about. I tried to clean them for you, but the cloudiness wouldn’t come out.”

“Yeah, it’s hard water damage,” Laurel answered simply, taking their glasses from the other person’s outstretched hand and slipping them back onto their face. With their vision more or less restored, Laurel could finally make out who was speaking with them. They were younger than Laurel had expected; still a child by anyone’s standards, even if they were so obviously a lot older than Laurel.

“Hard water damage?” The older kid echoed, lowering one eyebrow in confusion. They had more freckles than Laurel knew what to do with and they stretched with every move the older kid’s face made, like polka dots on fabric.

“It’s from the calcium deposits in the lake I lost these in,” Laurel explained, laying back and staring at the ceiling. “When the police fished them out, they were almost completely clouded over. I got most of the stains out so I can still see, but they’ll never be perfect again.”

The other kid bit their lip, patted the mattress for a moment, and then looked back up with a smile. “Well, maybe we can get you some new ones!”

“No,” Laurel said resolutely.

“Huh?”

“No,” they said again, slower and more drawn out. “I don’t want new ones, I like this pair. And where is my notebook?”

“Your notebook? Oh!” they snapped their fingers, making Laurel jump. “I’m pretty sure Bell still has it.”

“Bell?” Laurel narrowed their eyes. “Who’s that?”

“They’re the one who found you first after you fell down,” the other kid explained with a smile. “I’m Robin, by the way.”

Laurel closed their eyes and pointed to themself. “Laurel.”

“Nice to meet you, Laurel,” Robin said. “Would you like me to send Bell in so they can give you your notebook back?”

Laurel thought it over for a moment and then nodded silently.

“Okay, then, sit tight,” Robin said, jumping up from where they sat and whirling towards the door, shutting it softly behind them.

Almost instantaneously, the door opened again and a familiar-looking child came rushing into the room in Robin’s stead. They all but ran to the foot of the queen-sized bed Laurel was laid out in and, gripping the metal bed frame, coasted to a halt and flashed a smile.

“Hi!” they wheezed, panting as they spoke. Pushing off the bed frame, they came around the corner and stood at the edge of the bed. “I’m Bell. Robin said you wanted to see me?”

“Yes,” Laurel answered, attempting to prop themself up on their elbows to look intimidating but failing miserably when their vision began to tilt and they had to lay back down. “They said you have my notebook?” they asked in a defeated voice, exhausted from the day’s events.

“Heck yeah, I do!” Bell announced proudly. Laurel gave Bell a quizzical look as they noticed the pink tutu they were pawing through to supposedly find a pocket. After a moment of battling with the frankly ridiculous amount of tulle around their waist, Bell produced a familiar notebook with a battered red cover and beamed as they held it out to Laurel. “Tada!!”

Laurel felt their lip twitch upwards involuntarily at the other kid’s showmanship. Reaching out and taking the notebook in their hands, Laurel began to flip quietly through the warped pages.

“You didn’t, uh…” Laurel blushed, avoiding Bell’s gaze. “You didn’t read it, did you?”

“Of course not,” Bell replied, using the edge of the bed as a springboard and launching themself into the air. They landed with a flounce at the foot of the bed, their head propped in one hand as they laid sideways and smiled at Laurel. “I’m no snoop.”

Laurel gave a quiet smile. “That’s good to know.”

“Soooooooo…” Bell traced a random design on the bedspread with their finger, not meeting Laurel’s gaze. “Like I said, I’m no snoop; but I was wondering...How did you fall down?”

“I jumped,” Laurel shrugged, easy as anything. They were done sugarcoating their life for everyone else’s comfort.

“You jumped?” Bell blinked, their expression growing a shade grimmer than before. They shifted around on the bed, the set of their shoulders sharpening at a tense angle.  

“Yeah,” Laurel nodded slowly, narrowing their eyes behind their glasses. “Why, how did _you_ fall down?”

“Well, I...I fell, you know? I tripped,” Bell said, wrinkling their brow at Laurel like they were a math problem they couldn’t solve. “Why would you jump? I mean, Alex kind of did, too. But they’re an idiot, so…”

“Who’s Alex?”

“Not important,” Bell waved their hand dismissively. “Don’t change the subject. Why did you jump?”

“I thought you weren’t a snoop?” Laurel challenged. They might have been done sugarcoating but that didn’t mean they were down to spill their entire sob story to a random stranger.  

“Yeah? Well, I-I-” Bell spluttered, blush crawling up their face. “Oh, forget it!” they launched themself off the bed with a huff, stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind them.

Laurel rolled their eyes and turned their attention back to their notebook. Tugging their pen from where they’d tucked it into the spiral binding, Laurel opened to a clean page and scribbled down a short memo before slamming their notebook shut, rolling over, and going back to sleep.

_Bell = RUDE and NOSY_

* * *

A few days later, Laurel was well enough to get out of bed and move around the new home they found themself living in all of a sudden. Which was good because it had come to their attention that they were occupying the monster who was taking care of them’s bed, and that she had been sleeping in her armchair all this time. Toriel, as the monster had introduced herself, insisted that her chair was just as comfortable as her bed and for Laurel not to worry; but Laurel still felt like a huge burden for taking up so much space.

About midway through their second day in the underground, Laurel had met the Alex whom Bell had referred to as “an idiot” and “not important” and found them to be anything but. Alex was loud and energetic, but Laurel could tell they had a good heart. And Alex made them laugh, which was rare for Laurel these days.

“I’m telling you: It’s gotta be huge, it’s gotta be ornate, it’s gotta be _luxurious_ …”

“You always do this! We don’t need a fancy bed, we need a functional one!”

Laurel giggled to themself from where they sat at the dining table in the small house’s common room. They were pretending to write something down in their notebook, but were actually listening to Alex and Robin argue over what kind of bed frame they wanted to make for Laurel. There were pieces of an old king-sized frame strewn about the floor, and the two older kids were clashing over their different tastes. Alex wanted to make a fancy bed for Laurel, while Robin was opting for a more functional design.

Alex and Robin fought about everything, Laurel had noted after watching them interact for all of two minutes. Alex was more about action and flashy displays, while Robin was more about well-thought out strategies and practicality. Together, they always came to a compromise that included the best aspects of each of their inputs; but they could never reach the end result without bickering through every step in the process.

But Laurel had also noted that, even though they fought about quite literally everything (earlier that morning they’d caught them arguing about the proper way to hold a spoon under running water so it wouldn’t splash), the two of them were each other’s best friend. Laurel rarely saw either of them do something without consulting the other first, and they almost always opted to do things together than to do them individually. Laurel wished they had a friend like that.

“Scribble, scribble, scribble,” Bell’s voice jogged Laurel from their thoughts, making Laurel jump as they slid into the seat across from them. Bell gave Laurel a smile, showing that they were over their little spat from a few days beforehand.

Laurel smiled back, they had never really been angry with Bell. Talking about the things that are hurting you is never easy; and Laurel had gone so long without anyone asking them anything about their life, they didn’t really know how to feel comfortable answering personal questions anymore.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Bell asked.

“Oh, I, um…” Laurel trailed off, pushing their hair out of their face and looking around for an easy out. “Does Toriel allow that?”

“Toriel’s not here,” Bell shrugged, checking over their shoulder to make sure Alex and Robin were still arguing and not listening in on their conversation. “Besides, you never really got to see the Ruins, being comatose and all of that.”

“I wasn’t technically comatose,” Laurel said, standing up from the table and tucking their notebook in the pocket of their sweater. “But sure, let’s go.”

Bell shot out of their seat and moved around the table to take Laurel’s arm in theirs. The two crept past Robin and Alex, who had begun arguing over whether or not a firm or soft mattress was ideal for a restful night’s sleep, and turned the corner that led out of the house.

Bell guided Laurel through the courtyard, pointing out the dying husk of a tree that only had a handful of leaves growing on it. Then, they took Laurel out into the Ruins and began giving them the grand tour. Laurel took notes on all of it, mapping out the twists and turns of the foreign location.

“So, I’ve been wanting to ask you something,” Bell said as they led Laurel through a hall of trapdoors. They caught the scowl that settled on Laurel’s face and gave a laugh. “Don’t worry, it’s not about how you fell down.”

“Okay,” Laurel said slowly, stepping around a pit trap. “What is it then?”

“You seem really smart,” Bell said, their back turned as they moved gracefully about the room. “I bet you know all sorts of things.”

“Stop flattering me and get to the point,” Laurel said.

“No, I’m serious,” Bell said, turning around and stopping in their tracks.

Laurel stopped with them and gave the slightly older child a confused look. “Why does it matter, then?”

“I want to leave the Ruins,” Bell finally said. “I want to get back to the surface. And I want you to help me.”

“You want me to help you?” Laurel repeated. “Why not ask Alex or Robin or Toriel? You know them better, and they’re older. You just met me, how do you-”

“Those three won’t help me. They’re scared of the underground. And yeah, I get it, with the whole ‘All humans who fall down must die’ thing, who wouldn’t be scared? But honestly, that doesn’t matter,” Bell said, reaching out suddenly to take Laurel’s hands in their own. “I need to get back to the surface, no matter what. But I can’t do it alone, and no one else will help me. Please, someone’s gotta be on my side.”

“It’s not about being on sides, it’s about doing what’s smart,” Laurel scoffed, yanking their hands away from Bell. ““Trying to do something dangerous without considering every possible outcome is _stupid_.”

“Oh!” Bell’s eyebrows scrunched up in anger. “Says the person who jumped down Death Mountain!” Bell retorted. “What kind of thought went into that decision? Unless your intention was breaking your neck, it seems like a pretty impulsive thing to do to me.”

“Maybe that was my intention,” Laurel snapped. “You don’t know me!”

“Why can’t you just help me!?” Bell asked. “I don’t get it. Our families are probably looking for us right now-”

“Not- Not everyone has some wonderful family to go back to, Bell!” Laurel shouted, tearing at their hair in frustration.

“What? You don’t have _anyone_ that you love on the surface? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Bell challenged.

“Yes! Exactly!” Laurel shouted in exasperation, giving a slightly hysterical laugh as they finally broke loose. “Happy now? What the- Eureka! You figured it out, Bell. I do not have anyone left for me on the surface. Not a single person that I- I don’t have _anything_. Why would I care about getting back up there!? The whole reason I jumped down in the first place was to…”

“Was to what?” Bell pressed when Laurel trailed off, looking startled by the other child’s half-finished confession. When Laurel didn’t continue speaking and only stared stonily down at their shoes, Bell reached out and shook them by the arm. “Laurel, was to what!?”

“Nevermind,” Laurel pushed Bell’s hand off of their arm and turned to walk away. “I shouldn’t have said anything…”

“No, wait a second!” Bell said, cutting Laurel’s walking path off and forcing them to look them straight in the eyes. “You can’t just say something like that and leave, what’s going on? What happened that made you want to jump down this mountain?”

“I…” Laurel tried to speak, but stopped themself. They could feel tears welling in their eyes and a sob lodging in their throat, and crying in front of people just wasn’t something Laurel did. Not that they couldn’t, but they wouldn’t. There was no one left for them to cry to who would care that they were upset, so, it was easier for Laurel to pretend they weren’t upset at all. To be a child and to feel as if you couldn’t cry in front of anyone because they wouldn’t care is a great tragedy, even if Laurel couldn’t recognize it as one at their age.

Bell noticed the other kid getting upset and took a step back, realizing that maybe they’d taken things a little too far. Bell usually had no problem professing at top volume everything in their life that had gone wrong, but recent events had made them all too well aware of the fact that there are some things you just don’t want other people to know about.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Laurel,” Bell spoke at last, looking down at their ballet slippers in shame. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. I shouldn’t be bugging you so much.”

“That’s okay,” Laurel said, not looking at Bell either. They still felt like they were about to cry, and wanted desperately for the conversation to end. “I’m going to head back to the house. Thanks for showing me around.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Bell said, kicking at the ground as Laurel walked past them to head back home.

“I really hope you can get back to your family, Bell,” Laurel said before turning the corner. “I’m sorry I can’t help.”

Bell didn’t say anything in reply, so, Laurel walked away. Trudging through the purple passageways, Laurel felt a bitter seed of resentment towards themself plant inside their heart like a bullet.

_You could help if you wanted to. But you’re too busy being miserable. No wonder no one cares if you live or die._

Laurel tried to shake the thought from their head, but it was there no matter what they did. So, they just let it be and made their way back to the house. When they walked across the little house’s threshold, Laurel was hit with a mouthwatering aroma floating over to them from the kitchen. They peered around the corner and spied Robin and Alex setting the table, quietly bickering over how to fold the napkins. From the kitchen, they could hear Toriel’s voice singing an old monster folk song as she worked on what undoubtedly was the source of the heavenly smell in the house.

Not wanting to interrupt the domestic scene in front of them, Laurel tried to sneak backwards and go outside once more. But the floorboards were old and creaked under their feet, making an abrupt noise the moment they shifted their weight into another step. Robin was the only one who had heard it, but their reaction of turning to see Laurel alerted Alex as well; and soon both siblings were coming over to greet the newcomer.

“Hi, Laurel,” Robin said with an easy smile, their face open and calm like the sea on a gentle summer day. “Where’s Bell?”

“They’re on their way back, I think,” Laurel said.

“We finished making your bed!” Alex piped up excitedly. “Of course, it was mostly me who did all the work-”

Robin elbowed Alex in the ribcage and gave them a look before turning their attention back to Laurel. “Actually, Toriel did most of the actual construction. A little magic goes a long way, especially with our carpentry skills,” they said with a gesture between Alex and themself. “If you want to go check it out, we’ll call you when dinner’s ready. We opened up that old room at the end of the hallway so you and Bell can share!”

“That’s...really great,” Laurel nodded. They tried to force a smile, but it actually physically hurt to even try. “Thanks, you guys,” Laurel said, turning away without another word and heading down the hall.

Laurel reached the door Robin had mentioned, which had been closed off the last time they’d seen it, and they pushed it open with a turn of the doorknob. A single lamp illuminated the large space before them, casting a warm yellow light over the dusty dresser upon which it sat. There were two twin beds, one pushed to either side of the room. Laurel could tell which one was supposed to be theirs because it had only plain sheets tucked neatly over the mattress, while Bell’s had a blue patchwork quilt that Toriel had made for them and boxes of Bell’s belongings awaiting their owner’s return sitting atop the pretty blanket.

Laurel tried their best not to be jealous. After all, Bell had been there longer than them and was bound to have more personal belongings in the house than Laurel did. But looking at the contrasting bedspreads made Laurel all too aware of the nagging feeling at the back of their mind telling them that they didn’t belong there. It wasn’t anything new to them, Laurel didn’t feel like they quite belonged anywhere anymore; but it’s never a good feeling to believe that you really and truly don’t have a single place in the world that feels like home to you.

Pushing their long hair back off their face with a frustrated groan, Laurel ambled over to their side of the room and flopped face down onto the bed with their glasses still on. They kicked off their shoes and, crawling under the blankets so everything but their nose and mouth was covered, Laurel finally let themself cry.

Pressing a pillow over their head so no one would hear their sobs, Laurel cried for everything they could think of. This was very easy because once Laurel started to think of things that made them want to cry, it began to seem as if everything made them want to cry. In that moment, there wasn’t a single happy thought in their head. But they were sick and tired of trying to find things to be happy about and sick and tired of people trying to cheer them up. Laurel didn’t want to cheer up, they wanted to be allowed to feel miserable. So, that’s what they did in that great empty room by themself. They curled up under the covers and just felt miserable.

* * *

Laurel didn’t know it, but while they were feeling miserable, Bell was just getting home. The other child walked into the house and immediately made a beeline for where they heard the others bustling around. Robin had migrated to the kitchen and was helping Toriel put the finishing touches on dinner, but Alex was still in the common room. Alex looked over from where they were standing by the bookshelf and turned towards Bell with a condescending smirk on their face.

“You know you’re not supposed to leave the house without telling anyone where you’re going,” Alex said, crossing their arms and leaning up against the wall. “You had everyone worried.”

“Alex, I need to talk to you,” Bell said in a hushed voice, twisting their hands together nervously as they approached the older kid.

Alex must have read the grave expression on Bell’s face and figured they weren’t joking around for once, because Alex immediately dropped their own sarcastic town and leaned towards Bell with an earnest look of concern.

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“It’s about Laurel,” Bell said. “And I don’t want Toriel to know and can you please act like I didn’t tell you anything?”

“What do I look like, a nark?” Alex said, but then added in a more serious tone: “I won’t tell, I promise. What’s up?”

“Laurel told me that they jumped down the mountain, but not like you did where you wanted to go on an adventure...” Bell said in hushed voice. “...and they were saying how they don’t have any family on the surface. That they don’t have anyone at all, really. And I just...Alex, I think they jumped down the mountain because they wanted to die.”

Alex’s face had grown sadder and sadder the more they listened to Bell talk. They hadn’t known Laurel long, but Alex had already come to think of them as a friend. And whether Alex knew them or not, no one deserved to feel so terrible that they wanted to die.

“What do you think we should do?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know,” Bell said. “I just wanted to tell someone else. Maybe we should just wait and see what happens? Laurel doesn’t really seem to want to talk too much about what’s bothering them, so, I don’t think we should make them.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Alex nodded. Neither of them noticed, but it was the first time they’d agreed on anything. “Let’s just wait it out.”

But when Laurel didn’t come out to dinner and didn’t emerge from Bell’s and their room for the rest of the evening, Alex found it more and more difficult to wait it out any longer. Going up to the door at the end of the hallway, Alex reached out and knocked gently a few times.

“Laurel?” they called out. “It’s Alex. Can I come in?”

There was no response. Alex knocked again, but still there came no answer. Tapping their foot in thought, Alex looked first to their right where they caught a glimpse of themself in the large gilt mirror that hung on the wall, and then looked to their left. There, down at the end of the hallway, Alex spotted two curious noses poking over either edge of the wall.

Alex turned towards Bell and Robin, arms held out in an annoyed suggestion. “Would you two like to come help me, or are you just gonna stand there?”

Without further prompting, Bell and Robin stepped into full view and hustled down the hall to join Alex.

“Did they answer the door?” Bell asked.

“Yes, Bell, that’s why I’m standing here like an idiot,” Alex rolled their eyes.

“Well, hey, they could’ve opened the door, taken one look at you, and slammed it shut again,” Bell said with a smirk. “That’s what I would do.”

“Assuming I would ever come knocking on doors to talk to you,” Alex grumbled, crossing their arms.

“Stop it,” Robin whispered in a harsh tone, not wanting to yell but very much wanting Alex and Bell to stop bickering. “Let’s just knock again,” they suggested, reaching out and knocking one freckled fist against the closed door. “Laurel? Is everything okay?”

“Maybe they’re asleep,” Bell said when the door went unanswered for a third time.

“Maybe…” Robin was about to agree, but just then a distressed shout sounded from within the room.

All three children straightened up with shock, startled by the despairing wails that were now emanating from behind the closed bedroom door. None of them knew exactly what to do and were looking to each other with panicked glances, hoping at least one of them would come up with a solution.

“Robin, any thoughts?” Alex asked, desperation edging into their words.

“Wh-” Robin blanched, looking around wildly as if there were another Robin Alex might be talking to. “Why me? Why don’t you think of something!?”

“You’re the oldest!” Alex said.

“I’m only thirteen!” Robin squeaked out in a helpless shriek.

“We need an adult,” Bell piped up, waving their hands anxiously up and down. “I-I-I’m getting Toriel!”

With that, Bell spun and bolted down the hall; grabbing onto the railing, Bell hurtled onto the stairs Toriel never allowed the children to follow her down on. As Bell disappeared from sight, Robin and Alex turned back to the door where Laurel’s frantic shouts had grown strangled with gasps for air.

“Screw this, I’m going in!” Alex decided, grabbing for the door handle. Robin followed with a wordless nod and the two shoved their way into the darkened room.

* * *

Laurel always dreamt in darkness. It was dark and cold and cramped, and Laurel couldn’t see a thing. Water would fill up all around them; going over their head and flooding in their nostrils. They struggled to move but couldn’t and they were sinking further and further down under the tide, and they couldn’t breathe. Their head pounded and they ripped at their hair but still they couldn’t breathe. They tried to yell but there was no one to hear their wordless screams as they choked out against the oppressive flood of black water filling their lungs. Not a single person could save them. They were drowning and no one even knew. They were dying and no one was coming to help th-

“Laurel, _wake up!_ ”

Laurel’s eyes shot open at the panicked voices shouting over them; they gasped for breath, their lungs aching with relief as they gulped down air. Their long hair was twisted around them in a sweaty net, making it harder to catch their breath. Shooting up in bed, they finally noticed that Robin and Alex were both leaned over them, each one gripping an arm to steady Laurel as the two of them watched with anxious expressions.

“Are you okay!?” Robin asked in a breathless rush, clutching at their chest as if they were about to have a heart attack.

“I-I-I’m...I’m uh…” Laurel stammered, still panting from being out of breath. For a split second, they almost retreated back into their shell and shut down their emotions. But then they saw how concerned the two older kids were as they waited for Laurel’s response, and something in them changed. Laurel had stopped expecting people to coming running to comfort them when they cried, but here they were - these two strangers Laurel had just met - running to help them.

Laurel made a guttural whine in the back of their throat, tears welling in their eyes as they were overcome with emotion. They drew their knees up to their chest and buried their face there, sobs suddenly bursting from their mouth loud and clear for everyone in the room to listen to.

“H-Hey, it’s alright,” Robin’s voice said in a soothing tone, one of their hands coming to rest on the other child’s back.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Alex added, throwing an arm across Laurel’s shoulders. “It was just a bad dream.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Laurel shook their head, their nails digging into their scalp as their voice was almost taken by sobs. “It was real.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, feeling a twist in their guts.

“I…” Laurel gasped, a new bout of sobbing interrupting their speech. “My parents, I...I couldn’t save them, and now everyone hates me!”

“It- Whatever happened to your parents...that’s not your fault, you’re just a kid,” Robin gave Alex a distraught look before they turned back to Laurel. “Why would anyone hate you?”

“Because I lived and my parents didn’t,” Laurel said, the weight of the statement bogging their shoulders down so they were curled into almost nothing. “I lived and everyone wishes I hadn’t, including me…” Laurel tried to wipe at their eyes, but a cluster of their hair fell in the way and they snapped out in anger all of a sudden. “...AND I HATE MY _FUCKING_ HAIR!”

The other two kids jumped at the rise in Laurel’s tone, but Alex recovered quickly. Reaching up to their own head, Alex untied the bandana around their forehead and reached for Laurel. Combing Laurel’s long hair back with a sweep of their fingers, Alex their bandana to tie it off of Laurel’s face. Robin had recovered by then, too, and took out their hair ribbon, using it to tie Laurel’s hair back in a ponytail. Laurel blinked out at them, speechless at the kind gestures of both children.

“Well, at least there’s one thing we can take care of,” Alex said, smiling when they saw Laurel’s crying had slowed a little bit.

Before any of them could say anything else, a set of footsteps came scurrying down the hall and soon Toriel was rushing into the room as well.

“Is everything alright?” Toriel asked, her gaze zeroing in on Laurel. “What happened?”

“Laurel had a nightmare,” Robin said, one arm still tucked around Laurel’s waist.

“Oh, my poor child,” Toriel said, rushing to the bedside and sweeping Laurel into a tight hug. “It is all right, now. You are safe here.”

Laurel froze in surprise, their sobs finally halting as Toriel held them close to her chest and rubbed soothing circles into their back. It was the first time they’d been hugged in a long time. Tucking their face against Toriel’s shoulder, Laurel leaned into the embrace and took a deep, settling breath. After a moment, Alex and Robin joined in, hugging Laurel from either side of them. Being hugged didn’t solve all of Laurel’s problems, but it helped. Wrapping their small arms around the other three as best they could, Laurel hugged all of them back, finally feeling as if they belonged somewhere again.

* * *

Afterwards, Laurel stood looking at themself in the bathroom mirror. Their face was all blotchy from crying and their eyes were puffy and red. Their hair was back down long around their face, and Laurel frowned. Once they’d settled down a bit, they’d given Robin and Alex their hair accessories back; but their hair still bothered them a great deal. Maybe they would have to start tying it back with something like Robin did. Running their hands over their hair, Laurel made a thoughtful noise at their reflection, scrunching up their nose in disdain at the Rapunzel-esque blonde locks falling down their back.

A knock on the door jarred them from their self-appraisal, and Laurel turned towards the door and called out, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” Alex’s voice said. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” Laurel replied, reaching out and opening the door for Alex to step into the small bathroom.

“I have a surprise for you,” Alex said with a grin.

Laurel noticed Alex was holding something behind their back, and quirked up an eyebrow in intrigue. “Oh?”

“Uh-huh, check it out,” Alex said, bringing their hands forward to reveal what they’d been hiding. In one hand, Alex held out a bowl. In the other, a pair of scissors.

“You, uh, shouldn’t have?” Laurel said, looking from the presented objects up into Alex’s excited face.

Alex laughed, reaching out and popping the bowl onto Laurel’s head like a hat. “I’m going to give you a haircut, silly!”

“With a bowl?” Laurel asked, tilted the brim of their new hat up so they could peek out at Alex.

“Sure,” Alex said, spinning Laurel around so they faced the bathroom mirror. “At the one foster home I lived in, the lady who ran it gave all of us haircuts like this. You just cut along the edge of the bowl to guide your scissors.”

“But won’t that make it really short?” Laurel asked, biting their lip.

“Uh, do you not want it short?” Alex asked. “You seem to not be a huge fan of the long-haired look, but that could just be me making things up.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want short hair, I just…” Laurel hesitated, their whole face going red with embarrassment. “Won’t I look ugly with it like that?”  

“Who told you that?” Alex asked, looking genuinely surprised by the question.

“My aunt,” Laurel mumbled, picking at their nails. “She’s who I was living with after my parents...She never let me cut my hair too short, because she thought it made me look ugly.”

“Laurel, no disrespect to your aunt, but that’s the stupidest thing I ever heard,” Alex said. “It’s your hair, do what you want with it.”

Laurel laughed. “She is pretty stupid,” they admitted. “Okay, let’s cut my hair with this bowl, then.”

“Alright! That’s what I’m talking about!” Alex whooped, putting one hand on top of Laurel’s head to keep the bowl steady and using the other hand to start snipping away at Laurel’s mounds of blonde tresses.

The first lock of shorn hair fell onto Laurel’s shoulder, and they picked it up and brought it to their eyes for inspection. After looking at the limp cluster of strands threaded between their fingers for a moment, Laurel just shrugged and let it drop to the ground. Alex hacked away at their hair for about fifteen minutes; they were trying to keep everything even, but the bowl kept slipping and it was hard to cut hair with only one hand. When it was all said and done, what was left of Laurel’s hair fell down around their ears in a choppy golden halo. Pieces of their hair stuck out at odd angles and the different sections had been shorn at varying lengths.

“Sorry,” Alex winced at the uneven mess they’d created. “Guess I’m not the best hairdresser in the-”

Alex was cut off by Laurel whirling around to hug them, squeezing the older kid tightly as they pressed a smile into their shoulder.

“I love it,” Laurel said. “Thank-you.”

“No problem,” Alex said, pushing their own hair out of their eyes as Laurel stepped away from them. “Let me know whenever you need anymore of my styling expertise.”

“I will,” Laurel laughed, brushing a few stray strands of hair off their shoulder. “Hey, do you know where Bell is? I haven’t seen them in a while.”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Alex shrugged. “The last time I saw them was when they were going to get Toriel. They’re always running off at the drop of a hat, though, they’ll probably turn up sooner or later.”  

Laurel wrinkled their nose in suspicion, they knew a thing or two about assuming . “Where did they go to get Toriel?”

“Down those stairs in the main hall,” Alex said. “They’re always looking for an excuse to go down there.”

“Why?”

“That’s the way out to the rest of the underground,” Alex explained. “Bell may have mentioned to you that they want to leave the Ruins.”

“It may have come up,” Laurel thought back to their earlier conversation with Bell and winced at the harsh way they’d spoken to each other.

“Yeah, well, that’s their ticket out,” Alex said. “Toriel won’t let them down there, but Bell can be pretty sneaky.”

“Hmm,” Laurel tutted their chin, turning towards the door with a determined set to their jaw. “Thanks again for the haircut, Alex, it really meant a lot to me.”

“Anytime,” Alex said, only half paying attention to Laurel as they had begun to examine their own hair in the bathroom mirror.

Laurel walked away while Alex was still distracted, making a beeline for the staircase at the main entrance. Glancing from side to side to make sure no one would see them, Laurel took hold of the bannister and hurried down the stairs.

The stairs let out into a dark series of corridors that smelled like a cellar. Picking up their pace, Laurel followed the long hall’s twists and turns as fast as they could. Something it what Alex had said and the fact that they hadn’t seen Bell since their fight earlier made Laurel think that Bell wasn’t just out for a leisurely stroll in the Ruins. From what Laurel knew about them, Bell was smart enough to recognize that while everyone else was distracted helping the new kid, it would be a perfect opportunity to make a break for a restricted area. It was only a hunch, but if they were right, they didn’t have long to do something about it.

Rearing around the last corner, Laurel found that their suspicions had been correct. In front of them loomed a set of large double doors, purple and foreboding with an unseen danger. And in front of those doors, there was Bell. They had been sitting with their back turned to Laurel, busy tightening the ribbons on their ballet slippers; but when they heard someone else come up behind them, Bell whipped around and stood fast as lightning.

When they saw it was Laurel who had come after them, Bell’s shoulders relaxed a bit from their tensed position. “Oh, it’s you,” they said, a slow breath carrying their words.

“Bell, don’t do this,” Laurel strode forward. “You said it yourself, you can’t make it through the underground alone.”

“I will if I have to,” Bell’s tone was harsh, their eyes narrowing as Laurel drew closer to them. “It’s none of your business anyway, I-” Bell sighed, all of the fight going out of them. It was harder to be angry at Laurel than Alex. With Alex, Bell found that the two of them were always fighting over disagreements or trying to outsmart the other. Bell didn’t find that with Laurel because they knew Laurel was smarter than them, and it’s hard to argue with someone when you think they’re right.

“Look, can you just do me a solid on this one and trust that I know what I’m doing?” Bell asked when their voice returned to them.

“You do know what you’re doing, Bell,” Laurel nodded their head. “You know you’re doing a stupid thing that you haven’t thought through, but you don’t care because you miss your family and you think it’s what’s going to make you feel better.”

“And won’t it?” Bell asked in a shaky voice.

“I don’t know,” Laurel shrugged. “I don’t know, Bell, and I can’t make you do anything. But I know what it’s like to do something dangerous because you miss someone. Remember, you asked what happened that made me want to jump down here?”

Bell looked up at Laurel with a sheepish expression. “Yeah?”

Laurel took a deep breath and let it go, clenching their hands into clammy fists to fight off their nerves. “Bell, the reason I jumped down is-”

A sharp _whizz_ sounding through the air and a burning sting of pain in their shoulder cut Laurel off mid sentence. With a shocked gasp, Laurel clapped a hand to the shoulder that had been hit and felt a deep gash had gone clean through their sweater and shirt and right into their skin. Pulling their hand back, Laurel was horrified to see blood smeared across their palm.

“Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…” a sharp, mocking voice sounded out from behind Bell, whose eyes flew wide at the realization of who was talking. “Is talking all you humans know how to do?”

Leaning around Bell, Laurel took in the sight of their mystery attacker and felt their eyebrows shoot into their hairline. There was no person or even a humanoid monster awaiting them, no. Poking out of the purple floor, smiling in a way that looked more like a threat than anything else, was a golden flower. 

“Well now, you’re a new face!” the flower said. “Bell, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

Bell finally moved, turning around so they were standing protectively in front of Laurel. “None of your business, Flowey,” they spat ferociously, though Laurel noticed their hands were shaking. “Get out of here before I-”

“Before you what? No wait, don’t tell me! Gonna faint again, are you?” Flowey challenged, an obscene giggle burbling out of his grinning mouth. “Oh no! My days are numbered, I’m shaking in my roots.”

Laurel made a face at the pun, and gave a discreet nudge to Bell before making their way forward to stare down their nose at Flowey. Reaching into their pocket, Laurel pulled out their notebook and set their pen to a clean page. “What kind of monster are you?” they asked in a voice that was archetypal of innocent curiosity.

Flowey’s smile finally dropped, turning towards Laurel with a confused expression. “What kind of monster am I?” he echoed, his voice boiling to a thinly masked rage. “The worst kind. I am your worst nightmare come to life. I am the prince of this world’s future, and I-”

Bell let out a relieved gasp suddenly, pointing over Laurel’s shoulder at something behind Flowey. “Look, it’s Toriel!” they cried.

“Huh!?” Flowey turned around in a gut reaction, dramatic expression dropping in fear of the approaching caretaker of the Ruins. But when he saw that there was nothing behind him but a closed set of doors, he began to turn back around. “Nice try, Bell, but you-”

**_WHAM!_ **

Bell’s foot struck out and kicked Flowey directly in the face, knocking his vision askance. In the few seconds before Flowey regained his composure, Laurel surged forward and made a grab for the flower. Hands gripping tightly around his stem, Laurel yanked upwards and hauled Flowey straight out of the ground.

Long roots pulled up with him, whipping and curling at the empty air around them in a panicked rage. Flowey was screaming and gnashing his teeth at Laurel, who held him at arm's length and moved towards the double doors. Bell caught on to what Laurel was trying to do and grabbed one of the doors by its handle and pulled it open. Laurel reared their arm back and then snapped it forward, hurtling Flowey straight through the opening. Bell slammed the door shut behind Flowey and immediately ran up and grabbed Laurel by the wrist, tugging them away from the doors and back towards the house.

“He’ll be back,” Bell panted as they ran as fast as their short legs could carry them. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Laurel said, even though they could still feel blood pouring down their arm.

“Liar,” Bell half-laughed, half-wheezed as they made it to the stairs.

Even once they were upstairs, the two children kept running and didn’t stop until they had slammed their bedroom door shut and locked it behind them. Collapsing to the ground with their backs against the door, Laurel and Bell finally looked at each other. For a split second, their expressions remained grim; but then Laurel’s mouth quirked up ever so slightly and soon the two were laughing so hard they could scarcely breathe.

“Oh my God, why are we even laughing!?” Bell asked between laughs, clutching at their side.

“I don’t know,” Laurel giggled, wiping a few tears off their face.

The two laughed like that for a little while longer, eventually settling back against the door with contented sighs. There’s nothing like a good long bout of laughter to banish troubling thoughts from your head. Laurel sat up straighter, feeling more confident in themself than they had in a long time.

“Bell, what I was trying to tell you before…” they spoke in a serious tone, all traces of laughter leaving their voice. “...I think it’s important for you to know.”

“Alright,” Bell said. “But you don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

“No, I think...I think it will be good for me to say it,” Laurel took a deep breath, closing their eyes and clenching their hands together. “The reason I climbed Mt. Ebott is because, a few months ago, my parents died.”

“Laurel, I’m sorry,” Bell said immediately, voice soft with shock. “How did it happen, if I can ask?”

“We were driving back from the movies,” Laurel began. “And it was raining really hard and it was dark out, and we were driving past this lake that we passed every day on the way home. But my dad, he was driving, and he had swerved to miss hitting a stray dog that had run out into the road and he lost control of the car. The car drove into the lake and it started sinking and we were trapped inside.”

“Oh my God,” Bell murmured, placing their hands over their mouth.

“But I had read about sinking cars and remembered that if I waited until the car filled with water, I’d be able to open the door and escape,” Laurel continued, their hands shaking by then. Bell reached out and took one in their own hand, squeezing tightly. “So, I did that and I swam to the surface. And I guess I figured my parents would know how to get out too because they were both teachers and I...I...Well, I figured wrong.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Laurel,” Bell said, giving their hand another squeeze.

But Laurel still wasn’t finished. Leaning their head back against the door, Laurel looked up to the ceiling and let a single tear fall down their cheek. “After my parents died, I went to live with my aunt. But she didn’t want me, she- She was angry I had lived and my mother hadn’t. My mom was her sister.”

“How do you know she was angry?”

“I overheard her talking on the phone one time when she thought I was asleep,” Laurel admitted, closing their eyes as more tears dripped down their face. “After all that, I just- I just couldn’t take being around people anymore. No one seemed to want to deal with me. Everyone wanted me to get over my parents dying and be happy so they could feel better, but I didn’t want to get over it. I couldn’t and I still can’t. So, that’s why I climbed the mountain. I wanted to escape from it all, and didn’t care if I lived or died while doing it.”

“That’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever heard!” Bell exclaimed, standing up in sudden anger. “Family is supposed to love you and help you when you’re going through a hard time, not make it worse! You- Laurel, you are the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

“I’m really not,” Laurel shook their head. “I’m a coward, I took the easy way out. I-I gave up…”

“No, no, stop!” Bell insisted, reaching down and hauling Laurel up by the wrist. “You’re still here, you haven’t given up anything!”

“But I don’t want to be here,” Laurel countered.

“Doesn’t matter,” Bell shook their head. “What matters is that you keep trying, even if you don’t want to. Right?”

“Right, but-”

“So, you’re gonna keep trying, right?” Bell asked, squeezing Laurel’s wrist importantly.

“I…” Laurel faltered, their cheeks going red under Bell’s scrutinous gaze. “...I guess so.”

“Good,” Bell nodded, flinging their arms around Laurel and pulling them into a tight hug. “I won’t stop trying either. I’ll make it back to the surface a better way.” Stepping back from Laurel, Bell wiped a few tears from their own eyes and tried for a smile. “Now, come on and let’s go find Toriel so she can fix your arm.”

Bell led the way out of the room, marching down the hall with purpose. Laurel followed, coming up next to Bell so they could walk side by side.

“Bell, what you said reminded me of something,” Laurel said as the two of them left the house and walked past the blackened tree husk with four red leaves hanging from it.

“What’s that?” Bell asked.

“When I was researching Mt. Ebott, I found all these old legends about the monsters trapped underneath it,” Laurel said. “And all of the tales said the same thing: That to break the barrier, it would take seven human souls or an equivalent power.”

“Uh-huh,” Bell nodded, more than familiar with Mt. Ebott’s lore.

“If you really want to leave the underground, why don’t you wait until there are seven humans so we could break the barrier?”

Bell stopped in their tracks, disturbing a troupe of spiders making their way towards the bake sale that was advertised at every turn in the Ruins. “We?” Bell asked, looking up at Laurel with a hopeful smile.

Laurel sighed and smiled back, their cover blown. “I’ve decided to help you after all, Bell,” they announced. Before Bell could begin to jump up and down with glee, Laurel held out a hand to halt them. “But on the condition that we think this through and don’t rush anything.”

“Deal!” Bell said almost immediately, thrusting their hand out towards Laurel who reached out and took it in their own. The two struck hands on the bargain, and then picked up their walking pace again.

“You’re not anxious about how long it’s going to take for seven humans to fall down here?” Laurel asked.

“There are already four of us,” Bell said, giving Laurel’s new short bangs a flick with their finger. “How much longer can three people take to fall down a mountain?”

Laurel laughed and shook their head. “I don’t know,” they admitted.

“I guess we’re going to find out, huh?” Bell asked, looping their arm through Laurel’s and steering them back onto the walking path.

“I guess so,” Laurel nodded.

Bell and Laurel continued on through the Ruins, chatting with each other about any old thing that popped into their heads. Eventually, they found Toriel and had her heal the wound in Laurel’s shoulder. Afterwards, the three of them returned home and rejoined Robin and Alex, who were arguing over which part of Robin’s book they’d left off reading on. Toriel set the argument straight, and all of them sat down to listen to Robin read aloud. Bell sat so close to Laurel that their shoulders were touching, and Laurel smiled. They began to feel as if they’d found their place in the world again, and that taking the next step forward wouldn’t be quite so daunting now that they had others who would be there to go with them.


End file.
